FOLEY, Ala. – The Texas State soccer team advanced to its first-ever Sun Belt Conference Championship match after taking down the five-time defending tournament champions South Alabama 4-2 on penalty kicks at the Foley Sports Complex. The match officially goes down as a 1-1 draw after a hard fought 110 minutes on the pitch.
 
The Bobcats are now 11-5-3 on the season while the Jaguars ended their season with an 8-9-2 record. The draw also snapped a 16-match winning streak for USA in the Sun Belt Championship with the last defeat coming at the 2011 tournament.
 
Kaylee Davis dumped off a quick feed to Mackenzie Smith in the 13^th minute to get her behind the defenders. A tight angle shot from the Cypress, Texas native was stopped to keep the match scoreless.
 
In the 18^th minute, a cross came into the Bobcats' defensive box to Brianna Morris. She had her back turned to goal but sent a short pass to Moa Ohman, who kicked the ball into the left side netting for an early 1-0 USA lead.
 
Haley Groff took on multiple defenders to eventually send in a cross from the left side during the 25^th minute. Ally Kewish was in great position to head the ball but was a tad too high. A follow up attempt from Genesis Turman went over the crossbar.
 
With less than four minutes until halftime, a through ball split the USA defenders and allowed an attempt from Turman. The Allen, Texas native's flick was tipped away by the goalkeeper to keep Texas State off the scoreboard.
 
Late in the 48^th minute, Groff was able to find Kewish open at the top of the penalty box. Her shot was blocked but Davis was there for three quick attempts. The first two were saved by the goalie while the third smacked off a defender. The ball bounced to Groff who took a rip that was caught between the keeper's legs.
 
The Bobcats got on the board in the 74^th minute. A shot from Davis hit the arm of a defender in the box to setup a penalty kick. The junior smashed the spot kick into the right corner to knot the score at 1-1. Her goal was the 18^th of her season to tie the Bobcat single-season record set by Britney Curry in 2009. It was also the first goal allowed by the Jaguars in eight Sun Belt Championship matches, dating back to Nov. 6, 2015 vs. Appalachian State.
 
The waning moments of regulation saw a cross come in from the right side courtesy of Jessica Pikoff. Smith was there to head the ball but sent it over the crossbar.
 
Over the two 10-minute overtime periods, USA outshot the Bobcats 4-3 with three on target. All of them were stopped by Heather Martin to send the match to a penalty kick shootout.
 
The Bobcats won the toss and elected to go second in the shootout. Martin came up big on USA's first attempt, stopping Ohman's attempt. Kewish then stepped up and took a rip that Justice Stanford got a hand on but the ball trickled over the line and into the right side netting for a 1-0 lead.
 
After a make by Brenna McPartlan, Davis stepped up and nailed her attempt to make it 2-1 in favor of TXST. The Jaguars' Hannah Godfrey stepped up and saw her shot clank off the crossbar for their second miss of the shootout. Jordan Kondikoff stepped up and converted her try to increase the advantage to 3-1.
 
USA's Tilly Wilkes made her try to cut the lead to 3-2 in the shootout. Smith followed by making her attempt to advance the Bobcats to the championship match.
 
Texas State attempted 26 shots in the match with seven coming from Davis. Taking six shot attempts was Kondikoff while Kayla Geren, Smith and Turman all attempted two apiece.
 
Martin made seven saves on the night with all of them coming after halftime.
 
The Bobcats will meet either Little Rock or Georgia State in the championship match on Sunday at 1 p.m. The match will be streamed on ESPN+.
 
For the latest information on the Texas State soccer team, visit the official website of Texas State Athletics at www.txstatebobcats.com, like on Facebook at Texas State Soccer and follow on Instagram and Twitter at @TxStateSoccer.