Salmon Bay FC win a Heart-Stopper over Colorado Storm in a Penalty Shootout to Advance to Western Conference Final

The tensest 120 minutes of Salmon Bay FC history ended in pure joy Friday night, as Elena Milam provided two penalty saves and Morgan Manalili slotted away the winner.

After a full 90 minutes and added time full of Salmon Bay chances, spot kicks were needed to separate the Coho from the Mountain Division champions, the Colorado Storm.

The Salmon Sisters will play the other semi-final winner, Capo FC, in the Western Conference Final on Sunday night back at Interbay

The match got off to a slow start. Both teams were confident on the ball, opting for patient possession, building from the back, and trying to break defensive lines with short passing. This however had little to no success against two excellent defensive units. Through the first 45 minutes, neither team had a shot on goal.

Salmon Bay’s lone attempts were a Samiah Shell flick header, a Maya Hindson shot that was blocked, and an Ameera Hussen attempt that sailed high. Colorado saw Peyton Nourse fire a shot over the bar in the final minutes of the first half for their only true effort on Milam’s goal.

At the start of the second half, neither side had made a substitution at the break, and the pace of play didn’t change.

Things wouldn’t pick up until the 74th minute, when a giveaway at the back by Colorado gave Hussen a clear look at net, but Colorado goalkeeper Lucy Garnsey pawed the shot wide.

Hindson thought she had the opener in the 77th minute after sweeping in a rebound of a Garnsey save, but a close offside call cut her celebration short.

In the 85th minute, Salmon Bay co-owner and Seattle Reign legend Lauren Barnes unleashed a strong effort from outside the area, but Garnsey made another spectacular save to deny her.

The Coho almost won it with the last kick of regulation, as Hussen pounced on a loose ball at the top of the six and once again was one-on-one with Garnsey. This time Hussen didn’t connect cleanly and skied her effort over the goal, sending the match to extra time.

Salmon Bay carried their momentum from the end of regulation into the next 30 minutes, dominating possession and attacking chances as they searched for a winner.

Aliyah Dockter had a headed effort blocked in front of the line in the 99th, and moments later a side-footed volley by Ui Kaaihue missed the target by a foot. Garnsey was called into action again in the 102nd to deny a bouncing shot from substitute Chloe Seelhoff.

Despite a mad flurry of chances in the final 15 minutes, including a pair of shots from another sub in Morgan Manalili, the first saved by Garnsey and the second saved by the post, a goal was nowhere to be found, and a shootout would decide the winner.

Colorado would shoot first, sending their leading goalscorer Reagan Kotschau to take, but Milam came up huge, diving to her right and saving the spot kick.

Ui Kaaihue rocketed her pen into the side-netting to make it 1-0 to Salmon Bay.

The ex-pro Marianna Seidl would be next to take for Colorado, and this time the Storm beat Milam with a quality shot.

Hindson would respond with a well-hit ball that took a tip off the glove of Garnsey but still went in.

Marin Kotschau, the younger sister of Raegen, sent Milam the wrong way to convert her try.

Seelhoff froze Garnsey with her penalty to keep the pressure on at 3-2.

Natalie Beckman provided an unsavable roofed penalty to keep Colorado in it.

Garsney would respond in turn by denying the veteran Barnes with a diving save to her right, tying things up going into the 5th round.

Emma Theilbar’s fifth-round shot was touched by Milam, but still found its way in, putting all the pressure on Anna Menti to convert and keep the season alive for Salmon Bay.

Menti delivered, looking calm as always to send the shootout to a 6th round.

Hannah Tate was the 6th taker for Colorado, and it was Milam’s turn once again to play hero, getting full extension on a low dive to push Tate’s shot off the post.

Manalili, the super sub, stepped up with a chance to win it, and didn’t hesitate, firing past a frozen keeper to send Interbay Stadium into hysterics and send Salmon Bay FC to the Western Conference Final.

Match Facts:

This was the first game in club history to go to extra time, and the first time across both Salmon Bay and Ballard FC that the club saw a penalty shootout
The first 45 minutes of the match were the first time in 2026 that Salmon Bay had failed to record a shot on goal in a full period of play
Elena Milam became the first Salmon Bay keeper to participate in a USL shootout and was the hero with two impressive saves to her right
Salmon Bay won their first ever post-season game, eliminating a team that went to the national final in 2024.
Morgan Manalili has now scored as a second-half sub in three regular-season games, as well as winning it in the shootout as a playoff sub
Salmon Bay had 4x as many shots as Colorado and 5x as many shots on goal
Salmon Bay and Ballard FC have now eliminated the Colorado Storm at Interbay Stadium in back-to-back years
Despite the 120 full minutes of action, Morgan Manalili and Chloe Seelhoff were the only subs used, with Elana Milam, Lu Barnes, Anna Menti, Alicia Barker, Ui Kaaihue, Rachel Reitz, Aliyah Dockter, Ameera Hussen and Maya Hindson going the distance

Starting 11:

Elena Milam, Lauren Barnes, Anna Menti, Alicia Barker, Jourdyn Curran, Ui Kaaihue, Rachel Reitz, Aliyah Dockter, Samiah Shell, Ameera Hussen, Maya Hindson

Subs Used:
Chloe Seelhoff, Morgan Manalili

Written by Adam Race