Women's soccer loses shot at playoffs with 3-1 loss to Humboldt State

Although their season ended with a win over Humboldt State, it was not without some sorrow that the women's soccer team finished out the weekend.

Just two days prior, the Seawolves faced an agonizing loss to the Lumberjacks that threw them out of playoff contention. After San Francisco State and Chico State tied earlier that Friday, it was up to the women of Sonoma State to bring in a win to get the berth for CCAA competition but lost to Humboldt State, 3-1.

"I think we can take a lot of positives from this season and look forward to improving for next year," said Head Coach Luke Oberkirch.

Humboldt State came out firing on Fri., Oct. 30, and easily scored in the first three minutes of the match. The goal came off a pass from Karen Pontoni that Carly Kolpin headed into the far post. The Seawolves were unable to recover from this deficit in a must-win match.

The rest of the half proceeded without much offensive activity as both teams struggled to make shots on goal. Seventeen fouls were called in the half, eight of them against Sonoma State who received the only yellow card of the game.

In the 54th minute of the game, Humboldt's Gracie Gartrell scored her first goal of the season with an assist from Koplin.

It wasn't until the 84th minute that the Seawolves put themselves on the scoreboard when sophomore Kiley Brown sent the ball to the back of the net from six yards away. With an assist from senior Tracy Webster, Brown scored her first goal of the season.

The victory was short-lived however; just 66 seconds later, Katie Corba would score the last of the Lumberjack's goals. The game ended with Humboldt State on top, 3-1, while Sonoma State not only lost the match, but their chance at the championships as well.

In the last home game of the season, and the careers of the two seniors on the team, the match took a very different tone.

Despite their loss earlier, the Seawolves once again faced Humboldt State but came out strong and defeated them 2-1.

Seniors Lindsay Catton and Tracy Webster (shown at right) were honored for the commitment and success they brought to Sonoma State before the game.

"It was a great way to end the season and a great way to go out for Lindsay and Tracy," Oberkirch told SSU Sports Info. "We played much better today than we did on Friday night."

Kiley Brown would score the first goal for SSU in the 13th minute. Catton made a corner-kick over the opposing goalkeeper's head that Brown recovered and drove in for the point.

Humboldt State quickly recovered three minutes later off a 12-yard goal from Gartrell to tie the game.

Five minutes before the end of the half, Sonoma State retaliated when a foul was called in favor of the Seawolves.

Once again Catton assisted in helping sophomore Katie Parucha squeeze in one more goal during the struggle in front of the net before the break to put the Seawolves on top, 2-1.

This would be the final goal of game, as neither team was able to rally another point. In the second half, Humboldt State outshot the Seawolves but were not successful in scoring. The team ended their season with a record of 8-9-3 overall and 6-7-3 in CCAA play.