Season Comes to a Close for Chico State, Sonoma State in NCAA First Round
NCAA Division II Women’s Soccer Interactive Bracket
After stellar 2018 seasons on the pitch, the year has come to a close for No. 5 seed Chico State and No. 6 Sonoma State in the First Round of the NCAA West Regionals. For both the Wildcats and the Seawolves it was a close affair, and for Chico the game-wiinner came off an 86th minute penalty kick.
There is one more CCAA women’s soccer team fighting to advance in the NCAA brackets, as regular-season and tournament champions UC San Diego earned the No. 1 seed and first-round bye. The host Tritons take the field against Point Loma Saturday at noon from Triton Soccer Stadium.
| No. 4 Point Loma 2, No. 5 Chico State 1 |
Chico State complete recap |
Box score
LA JOLLA, Calif. – No team in the history of the Chico State women's soccer team has been tougher to beat than the 2018 Wildcats, nor are there any that can match their 13-game unbeaten streak that began the season. But once the NCAA Championship Tournament rolls around, teams on historic runs often face others with similar stories. The Wildcats ran into such a team Friday. And only one could survive and advance.
Point Loma had gone unbeaten and allowed only two goals in its 16 preceding matches heading into its matchup with Chico State in the opening round of the West Regional in La Jolla on the campus of UC San Diego. The Wildcats got on the board against the Sea Lions on Erin Woods' 13th-minute equalizer, but a late penalty kick proved to be the difference in Chico State's 2-1 loss.
It marked just the second loss of the campaign for the Wildcats, who finished a stunning season with a record of 10-2-6.
It looked as though the Wildcats might be playing overtime for the eighth time this season. Instead, a hand-ball in the box was whistled on the Wildcats following an 86th-minute cross. [Brenna] Meier guessed the right direction, but PacWest Conference Player of the Year Julia Glaser struck a strong penalty into the side netting for the match winner.
| No. 3 Western Washington 1, No. 6 Sonoma State 0 |
Sonoma State complete recap |
Box score
PORTLAND, Ore. – Facing #16 Western Washington in the NCAA Women's Soccer Tournament for the second time in as many seasons, the Seawolves proved unable to best the Vikings in their postseason rematch, falling 1-0 and ending their postseason run in the first round.
The Vikings found the match's lone goal early on as Gabriela Pelogi was able to put her head on a ball from Liv Larson and redirect a it to the left of keeper Kristen Spear from four yards out. Finding their lead in the 16th minute, Western Washington never looked back.
Sonoma State changed up their formation at halftime with the goal of getting more service and generating more offensive chances. The transition more than doubled the amount of shots the Seawolves took in the latter half (11) but despite the five shots that fell on frame, Natalie Dierickx kept her opponent out of the back of the net preserving the shutout.
One of Sonoma State's best chances of the game came in the final 1:15 of play as Molly Murphy sent a looping ball into the far-side corner. A crashing Sonoma State player left her mark and darted into the six, but she proved unable to put the one-hop ball away.