Sunday, November 12, 2017

LA JOLLA, Calif. – Despite a late Quinn Williams goal to bring No. 16 Concordia back within one, the Cavs suffered a 2-1 loss to No. 3 UC San Diego, Sunday afternoon at Triton Soccer Stadium in the second round of the 2017 NCAA Division II West Regionals.

The Cavaliers’ magical season, which saw them record 12 clean sheets and win their first GNAC regular-season title in school history, sees them exit their first-ever NCAA postseason with a 16-4-1 record.

A pair of second-half goals scored less than a minute apart helped the Tritons to their fourth-straight victory and 16th win of the season. Tritons' forward Mary Reilly recorded her eighth goal of the season after finding the net from 20 yards out at the 53:33 mark. Just 40 seconds later, UC San Diego’s joint-top scorer, forward Katie O’Laughlin, latched onto a back-post cross to double the host’s advantage, 2-0.

The Cavs went down fighting, however. Williams sliced the Tritons’ advantage in half after netting her eighth goal of the season from close-range in the 80th minute. Concordia fired away two more shots in the final 10 minutes, but was unable to hit the frame.

Concordia held its own throughout the match, as the visitors recorded 15 shots to UC San Diego’s 17. Cavs’ goalkeeper Anna Miller finished the afternoon with four saves. Midfielders Gabrielle Ewing and Kasey Ames led the Cavs with three shots each.

Unbeaten in its last 15 games, the Tritons will host defending Division II national champion No. 7 Western Washington this Friday for a spot in the tournament quarterfinals. The Vikings are 15-6 all-time in 21 NCAA postseason games, including a six-game NCAA postseason winning streak dating back to last season.