California Baptist University
Concordia University
SEMIFINAL STUNNER
11/7/2008 8:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
RIVERSIDE, Calif. --- With its season on the line, the NAIA's No. 22-ranked Concordia scored midway through the second half and then held off No. 7 California Baptist University for a 2-1 upset victory in the semifinals of the 2008 GSAC Women's Soccer Postseason Tournament.
The loss snaps the Lancers' seven-game unbeaten streak as they fall to 15-4-1 on the season. The Lancers are now squarely on the bubble for the 2008 NAIA Women's Soccer National Championship. At-large berths will be awarded Nov. 16. The NAIA National Championship-Opening Round is Nov. 22.
The Eagles, meanwhile, improve to 8-4-5 and advance to the tournament finals at Azusa Pacific. They will need to win the tournament to earn an automatic bid to the national tournament. The win also avenges an earlier 3-0 loss to the Lancers in the GSAC opener back on Sept. 27.
“We are obviously disappointed, but to Concordia's credit, they came out with a lot of intensity, and we came out flat in the first half. That's a bad combination,” said CBU Head Coach Kristen St. Clair. “We struggled to find our rhythm and let in an uncharacteristic early goal. Concordia came to play, had a good game plan and put together a solid 90 minutes. It's a humbling game when you don't bring your best for 90 minutes, and we were unable to do that today.”
It wouldn't have been a playoff soccer game without a little controversy, and unfortunately the controversy came on the game-deciding goal. The Eagles got the game-winner in the 67th minute in the most unusual way. Siobhan McMorrow crossed a ball from the right side into the box. Monica Haynes headed it towards the frame, but Lancer defender Kyrie Nicassio was there to seemingly clear the ball from danger. However, the sideline official, who was nearly 20 yards up the field, raised his flag indicating the ball crossed the line and awarding the decisive goal to the Eagles.
“It's frustrating that an official would allow a call like that to be a decision-maker in a playoff game,” said St. Clair. “At the same time, though, we had our chances and didn't execute.”
The winner came just 12 minutes after the Lancers had tied it, and CBU was only able to get off one shot in the final 25 minutes of the contest. The Eagles out-shot the Lancers 9-7.
CUI took a startling lead in the 26th minute. A ball was whipped into the area but seemingly avoided any danger until it rolled in front of Lancer keeper Emily Evanson. Aubree Caruana picked up the loose ball on the goal line and found a wide open Riverside-native Darlene Uriarte, who caught Evanson out of position and belted her third goal of the season.
The Eagles took that 1-0 lead into the locker room, but the deficit seemed to awake the Lancers, albeit momentarily. The Lancers were awarded a corner in the 55th minute. All-GSAC Jenna Oltmanns put one of her trademark services into the area, and All-GSAC Kylee Nicassio rose above the crowd and headed in the equalizer for her 15th goal of the season.
In a near repeat of last year, CBU must now sit and wait for the next week to see if it has done enough to earn one of a possible six at-large berths. The Lancers have won a school-record 15 games and are ranked No. 7 in the current poll, which as of now appears to be safe. However, the Lancers will likely drop a bit when the next poll is released Nov. 11. The final poll, and the one that counts the most, is released Nov. 16. All at-large berths are distributed according the final ranking. Last year, the Lancers were ranked No. 8 in the final poll won 13 games and didn't go.
