Friday, November 16, 2018

CANYON, Texas -- It took 110 minutes, but even that wasn't enough to separate No. 1 seed UC San Diego and No. 3 Western Washington in Friday afternoon's West Regional title match. 

This contest needed a penalty kick shootout to decide a winner, a shootout that was ultimately won the top-seeded Tritons. The match marked the second consecutive season of UCSD knocking the Vikings out of the postseason, this coming on the heels of WWU's 2016 victory between the two clubs en route to the program's national championship.

With her team holding a 3-1 advantage through the first three rounds of the penalty period, it was forward Megumi Barber who stepped up to the spot and put home the winning kick.

Western Washington controlled the run of play for much of Friday’s match. On the attack for the majority of regulation, the team took two corner kicks in the final 10 minutes of the second half and got an additional shot on goal from junior Liv Larson in the 83rd minute.

The Vikings would ultimately outshoot UC San Diego 15-8 and were led by Larson, who finished the match with nine shots. Goalkeeper Natalie Dierickx tallied three saves while recording the clean sheet.

The match was WWU's third of the NCAA Division II Championships, the first two resulting in one-goal victories against No. 6 seed Sonoma State and No. 2 Concordia. It finished the season with a record of 18-3-2.

With the win, the Tritons advance to take on either West Texas A&M or Dallas Baptist in Sunday’s national quarterfinal match.