CBU Comes From Behind With Three Late Goals to Secure a Trip to the WAC Championship

Wednesday, November 6

Abilene, TX

2:00 PM PST

California Baptist University

9-6-3, 3-3-1

#1 Seeded Utah Valley University

12-5-2, 6-0-1

California Baptist

Utah Valley

CBU Comes From Behind With Three Late Goals to Secure a Trip to the WAC Championship

11/6/2024 5:55:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

By: Mariah Rodriguez, Assistant Director of Athletic Communications and Digital Media

ABILENE, TX--- There was no quit in the California Baptist women's soccer program on Wednesday afternoon as the squad faced the one-seeded Utah Valley Wolverines in the semifinals of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament. The Lancers came back from a two-goal deficit and found the back of the net three times in the final 18 minutes of the match to secure a ticket to the WAC Championship on Saturday afternoon.

The Wolverines jumped out to an early lead, netting their first goal of the day from the top of the 18-yard box. UVU would pick up their second goal of the day 20 minutes late after Quincy Bonds headed a cheeky cross into the top left side of Mikayla O'Brien's goal. The nation's leading goal-scorer Faith Webber attempted to put her name on the stat sheet but was denied by O'Brien, who came off her line to deny the UVU forward in a one-on-one to keep the deficit to two. After halftime, the Lancers came out with much more urgency in the second half and began to generate more chances while shutting down the Wolverine attack. California Baptist outshot Utah Valley in the second half and was rewarded with three late goals to secure the 3-1 victory.

Jayden Ramirez was the first Lancer to find the back of the UVU net, running onto a pass from Mia Scranton to fire a screamer to put CBU on the board. The original ruling was deemed offsides, but a VAR check by the center referee overturned the call in CBU's favor and was the catalyst in building the Lancer momentum. Twelve minutes later, Morgan Witz dumped in a ball to Ava Westlund, who danced around three Utah Valley defenders and unleashed a bullet into the top right corner to knot the game at two-apiece. The final nail in the coffin for the Wolverines came in the 88th minute after a cheeky chip from Lauryn White found Ramirez and delivered a backheel to Kaylee Hauck at the top of the box to launch a game-winner into the top netting. O'Brien came up huge for the Lancers during the second half, carding five saves, and gave up no goals to keep CBU in the match.

The semifinal win marked the Lancer's first appearance in a WAC Championship Tournament match and was also the first time since September 28th that CBU has scored more than two goals in the match. The Lancers improved to 9-6-3 on the season and have doubled their postseason wins in the DI Era, as they now hold a 2-2 record in postseason affairs.

"Wow, what a game! I am so incredibly proud of our team and the heart, resilience and grit they showed to fight their way back into the game. Most teams down 2-0 at halftime would have given up but not this group," reminisced Head Coach Kristen St. Clair. "This team rolled up their sleeves and went back to work, disrupting our opponents game plan and chipping away at the score line. Jayden Ramirez, our captain, got us on the board first with a savvy close range finish. Ava Westlund held off multiple defenders and finished a brilliant shot to tie the game. Kaylee Hauck put herself in a great supporting position to receive a back heeled pass from Jayden before slotting the game winner under pressure into the back of the net. Mikayla O Brien came up with a huge save in the second half on a breakaway by the WAC offensive player of the year. The two goals we allowed were mistakes on our part that we made adjustment to fix at halftime.

"Defensively outside those two moments, I thought we were very good! In the second half, our defense and back line shutout the nation's leading goal scorer and league leading offense, that's no small feat. The adversity we've gone through all season helped build our perseverance and resilience. The was a full team effort and I couldn't be happier or prouder of this group. We'll enjoy this tonight but the job is not finished. We'll go back to work to prepare for the opponent we'll face in the Championship game," finished St. Clair.

California Baptist will now face the winner of the second semifinal match between Seattle U and reigning WAC Tournament Champions Grand Canyon on Saturday at noon PST in Abilene, Texas.