Despite a resilient second-half effort that included control over the majority of possession, three shots, and five corner kicks, the Bears never put the ball in the back of the net. With their one goal, Cal Lutheran rode to their first-ever national title, becoming the first unranked team to achieve the feat.
After 110 minutes of gridlocked soccer in this year’s Final Four matchup, the Bears and Falcons headed to a penalty shootout once again. “The history of these two teams, these two programs we could have just gone to PKs and been done with it. Saved ourselves some time,” Messiah head coach Scott Frey quipped after the game.
After a dramatic win against the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, the Washington University women’s soccer team is back in the NCAA Division III Final Four for the first time since 2018. In the semifinals which will be played on Thursday, Nov. 30 in Salem, VA the Bears will take on a familiar foe: Messiah University.
From Saturday’s opening whistle to Sunday’s final tweet, WashU played 180 minutes of top-notch soccer to cruise through Maryville College and Sewanee: The University of the South and earn a spot in the Sweet 16.
For the first time all season, the Bears had conceded a goal, and they quickly found themselves playing from behind. Ultimately, despite a resilient attempt to mount a comeback, they would fall to the No. 6 Yellowjackets 2-1, ending college soccer's best clean-sheet streak and placing their UAA division lead in jeopardy. Just five days after they had been named the best team in the country, the Bears were knocked off their perch and are back to the No. 2 spot in this week's rankings.