FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — The Idaho State soccer team is hanging on to a postseason playoff spot by its collective fingernails.

But the first career goal by freshman forward Madison Culp has at least given the Bengals a better shot at making the Big Sky Conference Tournament.

Culp’s goal in the 72nd minute gave ISU a 2-2 tie with host Northern Arizona on Sunday. It provided the Bengals with a critical point in the cluttered Big Sky standings. With Sunday’s draw, Idaho State is now tied with Portland State for fourth place in the conference standings with eight points apiece.

Only the top six teams in the league qualify for the postseason tournament, and the Bengals have four teams with postseason aspirations right behind them in the standings — Eastern Washington, Northern Colorado and Sacramento State with seven points apiece, and NAU with six.

But while ISU and Sacramento State have only one game remaining in which to accumulate points, EWU, UNC and NAU have two games left this week. The Bengals close their regular season Sunday at home against second-place Weber State, while Sacramento State hosts Portland State on Sunday.

Eastern Washington hosts NAU on Friday and UNC on Sunday. The Bears, meanwhile, play at both Idaho and EWU. NAU is on the road at both Eastern Washington and Idaho.

A victory in Big Sky play earns a team three points, a tie one. Idaho State could finish as high as third place in the final standings with a win over the Wildcats, or completely out of the playoffs with a loss and the wrong combination of other teams winning this week.

“We’ll get some much-needed rest after a long weekend of travel and battling on the soccer field, and get ready to take on Weber State at home on Sunday,” said Bengal coach Dustin Downey. “I would love to see a big crowd at Davis Field next week to help push us past Weber State and secure our spot in the Big Sky Tournament.”

ISU’s tie with NAU in a physical match that featured nine yellow cards on Sunday broke a 12-match losing streak to the Lumberjacks.

The Bengals, now 5-7-4 overall and 2-3-2 in conference play, jumped out to a first-period lead on a goal by Isabella Winton, her second of the year, off an assist by Saydree Cooke, her fifth of the season.

“Isa Winton was big today,” Downey said. “She gave us the early lead, then transitioned to another spot on the field when we had to make positional adjustments. Same goes for team captain Mary Za, who was instrumental in helping us maintain our composure.”

The Lumberjacks took the lead with goals in the 44th and 68th minutes, setting up the tying goal by Culp, the redshirt freshman midfielder from Dana Point, California.

“Maddy scored her goal and went down with an injury, and when I went out there the first thing she asked was, ‘Did the goal count?’” said Downey. “She was more worried about scoring for her team than about her injury.”

The tie with NAU came on the heels of a 3-0 shutout loss to Northern Colorado on Friday night. Downey said that game was frustrating, given that ISU had 22 shots in the contest, but simply couldn’t put the ball in the net.

“If you were to compare the stats and not know the score, you’d have thought our team would have won,” said Downey. “But if we can’t put the ball in the net, we’re not going to win games. You have to score to win.”

Despite the shutout, Downey was encouraged by the development of his team’s offense.

“I was happy to see us create so many chances,” he said. “It’s a sign that we have a strong attacking team,” Downey said. “We had 15 shots against Montana and 22 against UNC, 16 against NAU. We are tough for defenses to stop, but we are beating ourselves when we can’t finish the attack with a goal.”