Northern Colorado Soccer Defeats Idaho Vandals For Big Sky Championship Title

Sunday, November 8

Moscow, ID

1:00 PM

University of Northern Colorado

13-7-2, 7-2-1

University of Idaho

14-4-3, 9-0-1

OT 4

OT 5

OT 6

Northern Colorado

Idaho

11/8/2015 10:39:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

The Bears beat the Vandals 3-0 in a shootout after 1-1 tie in regulation to win the Conference title and earn a bid to NCAAs

MOSCOW, Idaho - The UNC Bears won their first ever Big Sky Conference championship title Sunday afternoon, defeating the Idaho Vandals in a shootout. The Conference title also earns them their first ever NCAA Division I Tournament berth.

"Getting the No. 2 seed really helped us keep our energy up," head coach Tim Barrera said. "I thought the girls played within themselves and we got really good performances from a lot of players. I also think it was key for us getting Rebecca Lancia back right before going into the tournament. She adds something out there for us and had a fantastic game on Friday."

The teams went to a shootout after Idaho scored in the first half, and the Bears responded with the game tying goal in the second. Idaho made a goalie switch for the penalty kicks to Torell Stewart, and UNC would take the first shot in them.

Essence Ortiz-Laneir got the shootout started, knocking one into the goal past Stewart. Madeline Burdick kept the Bear lead intact, punching the ball out of the bottom right corner of the goal off of a kick from Olivia Baggerly on Idaho's first PK.

Jacqui Pulley added to the UNC made penalty kicks, followed by another Burdick save, putting the Bears up 2-0 after two attempts.

Sydney Schroeder shot her attempt high in the third round of PKs, but Burdick also prevented the third Idaho player from making her goal. Mariel Gutierrez made her penalty-kick, the fourth attempt for the Bears, solidifying their win in the shootout to earn the championship and NCAA bid.

"Essence took a hard knock to her shoulder toward the beginning of the game, but she came to us before the second overtime and said 'I'm ready to go coach - give me a penalty kick; I'll take the first one'. It was really key for us to get that first penalty and Essence took care of it; Madeline Burdick was brilliant in the shootout as well, knowing exactly where the ball was going to go."

Overall, the Bears outshot the Vandals 20 to 18, with eight shots on goals compared to UI's five. UNC also had four more corner kicks than Idaho (6-2).

Idaho set the tone for the game right off the bat, taking a wide shot seven seconds after the whistle was blown. Eleven and a half minutes later, Idaho's Elexis Schlossarek headed the ball into the goal off of a cross, giving the Vandals a 1-0 lead.

The Bears, starting with Rebecca Lancia, answered with seven total shots in the rest of the half, but were unable to put any away. The defense, however, prevented Idaho from scoring any more goals, including one save by goalkeeper Burdick. Redshirt senior Ambree Bellin got a massive team save for the Bears in the 28th minute, sliding to knock the ball right off of the goal line.

Following halftime still tied at 1-0 in favor of Idaho, the UNC squad kicked it up a notch both offensively and defensively. Compared to the seven shots they took in the first half, the Bears took a total of ten in the second period, with three in the first five minutes of play. Idaho would not be able to get close enough to the UNC goal for a shot attempt until ten minutes in, but the defense would knock it away with a block.

Gutierrez scored the equalizer in the 56th minute, tapping the ball into the goal after a cross from Pulley. The goal would be the lone for the half for either side, sending the game into overtime tied 1-1.

In the first overtime period, Idaho dominated the field, taking four shots within one minute and only allowing one Bear attempt at the tail end of the 10 minutes. Unable to score for the sudden victory win, Idaho and UNC remained tied at 1-1 to move into the second overtime.

The second overtime was much more evenly matched, with two shots apiece for each team. After a third minute shot on goal by Ambree Bellin - saved by Idaho goalkeeper Amanda Poertner - Gutierrez would make the second shot with a minute left to go. Neither team could close out the game with a goal, however, sending the teams in a game-deciding shootout.

"We didn't want to give up the early goal and were disappointed when we ended up doing just that, but this team has been resilient all year and we've had to go into overtime a number of times. They're an experience group and they were ready for it today. They fought incredibly hard and we got a nice boost after making some changes at the end of the first half that really put Idaho on their heels. That definitely carried over into the second half and we got the goal to tie it up."

Madeline Burdick had three saves the game, and after her three straight PK preventions, earned a spot on the Big Sky All-Tournament Team and MVP for the Tournament.

Rebecca Lancia, Adrienne Jordan, Mariel Gutierrez, and Ambree Bellin were also named to the All-Tournament team for the Bears, along with five Idaho players, two Montana players and one player from Sacramento State.

While this will be the first time they have participated in the Division I tournament, the Bears have previously qualified for the NCAA Tournament at the Division II level five times, three of which were under head coach Tim Barrera.

UNC Soccer and the UNC Athletic Department will be holding a selection show watch party tomorrow from 2-4 p.m. inside the Champions Room at Butler-Hancock Athletic Center. All fans are invited to join the team as they find out who their next opponent will be alone with the details on when and where they will be playing.

The selection show starts at 2:30 p.m. MT and will be streamed on NCAA.com.

For more information on the Bears this season, check out UNCBears.com, visit the official Facebook page, or follow us on Twitter @UNCBearsSoccer.

All-Tournament Team

Name	School
Madeline Burdick (MVP)	Northern Colorado
Kayla Collins	Sacramento State
Elexis Schlossarek	Idaho
Rebecca Lancia	Northern Colorado
Adrienne Jordan	Northern Colorado
Olivia Baggerly	Idaho
Mariel Gutierrez	Northern Colorado
Amanda Poertner	Idaho
Kavita Battan	Idaho
Ambree Bellin	Northern Colorado
Kailey Norman	Montana
Ashlee Pedersen	Montana
Kayla Watanabe	Idaho