MISSOULA, Montana -- The Idaho women's soccer team came up just short in its bid to repeat as Big Sky Tournament champions on Sunday. Second-seed Idaho and fifth-seed Sacramento State battled to a 0-0 tie through two overtime periods, and it took eight rounds of penalty kicks for the Hornets to edge the Vandals in the shootout, 7-6.

The Vandals (12-5-3) controlled much of the game before shootout, but simply couldn't come up with a goal. Idaho held a 22-9 advantage in shots, including 7-5 in shots on goal, and had a 6-2 advantage in corner kicks in the contest. 

Two of those corner kicks, and five shots, came during the first 10-minute overtime period, when the Vandals put sustained pressure on the Hornets (5-6-9). Hannah Alfaro-Black came inches away from winning the game for Idaho in the 97th minute, but her shot hit the post.

Jadyn Hanks had a team-high six shots for Idaho, including two shots on goal. Margo Schoesler had five shots, Alfaro-Black added four, and Annika Farley had three for the Idaho attack.

Sunday's contest marked just the second time the Vandals were shut out in 2024.

Idaho goalkeeper Paula Flores came up with five saves for her eighth shutout of the season for Idaho, and looked strong throughout the shootout as well. Flores tilted the scales in Idaho's favor with the first save of the shootout in the third round, but eventual tournament MVP Sierra Sonko came up with a save of her own for the Hornets to keep the shootout going. 

Sonko eventually made the tournament-clinching save in the eighth round of PKs to give the Hornets their third-ever Big Sky tournament title.

Sonko earned Tournament MVP honors despite not logging a single minute during the tournament. Izzy Palmatier played all 330 minutes in net during Sacramento State's three-game tournament run. Each of those three games went to penalty kicks, where Palmatier gave way to the stout Sonko, who came up with clutch saves in all three contests as the fifth-seeded Hornets knocked off (4) Northern Arizona in the quarterfinals, (1) Montana in the semifinals, and (2) Idaho in the title game.

Four Vandals, Flores, Hanks, Sara Rodgers, and Alyssa Peters earned all-tournament team recognition.