WSU Soccer Defeated in the First Round of NCAA Championships

Washington State soccer fell to Illinois in the first round of NCAA Division I soccer championship  Saturday. The match came down to penalty kicks, with Illinois scoring over WSU 3-1.

This was the second consecutive year that the Cougs have lost in the first round based on penalty kicks. No goals were scored during the match which resulted in penalty kicks to decide the win. The weather conditions didn’t help matters, being that mud and snow covered the ground.

Wsucougars.com reports Claire Wheatley stopped Jocelyn Jeffers and Kourtney Guetlein in the first couple rounds. Aliina Weykamp and Taylore Peterson scored to give Illinois a two point advantage. In the third round, Katie Turney scored for the Cougs and Wheatley blocked an attempt by Allie Osoba. Nicole Setterlund missed an attempt for WSU in the final round, and Vanessa DiBernardo of Illinois sealed the win.

“First, thank you to the people who cleared three inches of snow off the field this morning so we could play,” Cougar Head Coach Keidane McAlpine said. “We had administrators, coaches, student-athletes from other sports as well as great event staff helping out. Our crowd support was tremendous. We talked about being a family and our family came together today. I feel badly for our kids because I felt they did enough to win the match. We just did not see the ball go in the net today” (Wsucougars.com).

The loss ended the Cougs season, finishing 21st in the nation.