After a regular season full of unfulfilled scoring opportunities, the Sacramento State women’s soccer team found the net at just the right time to beat Montana 5-4 on penalty kicks to advance to the Big Sky Championship game.

The scoring started in the ninth minute when Montana’s Lindsay Winans passed the ball to MacKenzie Murphy, who scored her fourth goal of the year. The game remained tied until the 58th minute when Hornets midfielder Sarah Howard took a pass from Beverly Goebel and knocked in a shot that hit the crossbar and landed just over the line for her third goal of the season.

The game headed into extra time tied at one, much like the teams’ first meeting, which ended in a 1-1 tie on Oct. 13. Neither team could get much going in the way of a scoring threat in either 10-minute overtime period, so the game was sent into a penalty kick shootout.

In what was the first shootout in Big Sky Tournament history it was the Grizzlies who shot first.

Montana’s Kelly Fullerton was first to shoot. She stepped up and sent a shot to the right side, which was knocked away by Hornets goalie Mandy Trojan. The ball hit off of the right post before dribbling away. Sac State got on the board when freshman Beverly Goebel sank one in the back of the net.

Sophomore midfielder Sarah Howard tied the game in the 58th minute. It was her third goal of the season.In rounds two through four every kick was successful. Montana’s Mahlleace Tomsin, MacKenzie Murphy and Sara Aspinwall kept the Grizzlies in the game, while Sac State’s Katie Rorabaugh, Kara Taylor and Katie McCoy put the Hornets up 4-3 heading into the final round.

Montana’s Lindsay Winans made her shot to tie it up at four to begin round five.

Standing between victory and a possible sudden death shootout was 5-foot-4 senior Kelly Novak.

When the whistle blew Novak buried her shot in the upper left, leading to a celebration at the top of the box for the victorious Hornets.

Sac State held the advantage in shots by a total of 13-8.

The Hornets will take on tourney host Idaho State on Sunday at 11 a.m. in Pocatello. Idaho State defeated Weber State 1-0 in the other semifinal.