CANYON, Texas – The Western Washington University women's soccer team had its season come to an end, falling on penalty kicks to UC San Diego in the NCAA Division II West Region Final on Friday afternoon at The Pitch on the campus of West Texas A&M University.
 
Despite controlling the run of play for much of the match, the No. 3-seed Vikings were unable to convert on their scoring opportunities, and the game as pushed into two overtimes before the penalty kick shootout.
 
The Tritons converted on all four of their penalty kick chances in the shootout, with forward Megumi Barber converting the game-winning PK.
 
The game officially goes into the record books as a tie in accordance with NCAA rules, the Vikings ended their season 18-3-2 overall and advanced to the West Region championship game for the sixth time in the last seven years. The match was WWU's third of the NCAA Division II Championships, the first two resulting in one-goal victories against No. 6 seed Sonoma State and No. 2 Concordia.
 
With the win, the Tritons (18-2-2) advance to take on either West Texas A&M or Dallas Baptist in Sunday's national quarterfinal match in Canyon, Texas.
 
"I am very proud of how we played today and how we gave it everything we had," said WWU head coach Travis Connell, who led the Vikings to their seventh consecutive NCAA championships appearance. "It was two very good teams going at it, maybe a little cagey in the beginning. I thought we created some nice chances, unfortunately in the end we were not get the one in that we needed to."
 
Prior to going into the second overtime, junior forward Liv Larson (Arlington, WA) had a last-second shot from 25-yards out hit the post that would have sent the Vikings to the national quarterfinals.
 
The Vikings outshoot UC San Diego 15-8 and were led by Larson, who finished the match with 9 shots. Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Natalie Dierickx (Kirkland, WA/Inglemoor/Colorado State) tallied three saves while recording the clean sheet.
 
Heading into the shootout period, the first for the Vikings since the 2014 GNAC Championships, Connell was confident in his squad.
 
"I felt like we were ready and was confident in the team as we headed into the shootout," added Connell. "In the end, it didn't go our way."
 
Playing in their sixth regional championship game in the last seven years, WWU fell to the UCSD for the second straight season. The Tritons defeated the Vikings 2-0 on their home field in La Jolla, California.
 
"All the credit goes to the players on making it to the regional finals six of the last seven years," said Connell. "The amount of hard work that they put in – during the season, during the offseason – they are fierce competitors and that tenacity leads to their success."
  Fans can follow WWU women's soccer online at WWUVikings.com/WSoc, and via social media on Twitter (@WWU_WSoccer), Instagram (@wwu_wsoccer) and Facebook (@WWUsoccerwomens).