NCAA Women's Soccer: Washington eliminated the Aggies on penalties in the tournament opener

LOGAN — Utah State carried all the momentum into its NCAA Women's Soccer Tournament first-round match, a historic season, a Mountain West Tournament championship and a No. 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament against a Big Ten foe. .

But Washington had all the advantage in the penalty shootout.

Ioanna Poapatheodorou, Jadyn Holdenried and Alex Buck each converted as the Huskies beat the Aggies 3-1 in a shootout after scoreless regulation Friday afternoon at Chuck and Gloria Bell Field.

Alicia Butters converted a penalty kick for Utah State, which faced the same backup goalkeeper in Mia Hamant in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament on Nov. 2 as the No. 17 Made three saves in shutout Iowa.

The Aggies out-shot the Huskies 15-12 and held the visitors to just three shots on target in regulation, but converted just 1-4 penalties during the shootout and lost their first game of the season after 90 minutes.

“It's always tough, right? I'm really proud of the team; I thought we played well the whole game,” said Utah State coach Manny Martins, who signed an extension with the school through 2027 after the historic regular season. “I thought we stepped it up in the second half. We went from two shots in the first half to 10 in the second half. We really turned up the volume and skimmed shots over the bar a couple of times. At the end of the day, it's about results, and we fell short on PKs, but I think the team Really proud of the performance and overall season.”

Utah State outscored its opponents 62-14 for an 18-1-4 run and back-to-back Mountain West Tournament championships, along with wins over BYU, Utah and Utah Valley in nonconference play. But the defense carried the day in regulation as Washington goalkeeper Olivia Juarez made seven saves and Aggies counterpart Cora Brendl made three saves in scoreless regulation.

Both teams combined for just five shots in a physical first half, but Brendl and Washington each made saves to keep the game scoreless through the opening 45 minutes.

Summer Diamond nearly gave the Aggies the lead on a free kick in the 49th minute, but the former Bonneville High standout's shot tipped over the crossbar to preserve the draw.

Mia Mullenmeister pushed one goal just wide of the post in the 72nd minute for Utah State, and Kate Christian fired another in the 80th minute.

Kelly Chambers scored in the middle of the net before Juarez collected her fourth save of the match in the 84th minute and two more four minutes later before a goalless, 10-minute overtime.

The Huskies went to Hammont in goal after Juarez was pulled after a collision in the box with Utah State's Tess Werts in the final minute of the first extra period.

The backup goalie made a save that sent the Huskies to penalties in the Big Ten Tournament against Iowa, an easy block in the final minute to set up a shootout against the Butters.

Brendle tied the program record with her 11th shutout of the season, the most since Molly Merrill in 2011.

Washington (10-6-3) advances to face the winner of Saturday's game between top-seeded Mississippi State and Southern in the second round.