BOX SCORE #5 Cal State Stanislaus 2, #17 Sonoma State 0 -- Box Score

TURLOCK, Calif. -- In a see-saw battle of two national powerhouses, something had to give, and despite a valiant effort for the entire 90-minute affair, the Sonoma State women's soccer came up short, falling 2-0 to Cal State Stanislaus in Sunday's California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Women's Soccer Championship game at Warrior Stadium in Turlock.  The Seawolves, who finished as the runner-up in the CCAA tournament for the second straight year, drops to 13-4-3 overall and will await word on their NCAA postseason fate.  The Warriors, meanwhile, will enter the national tournament without a blemish on their record at 18-0-2 after earning the conference's automatic bid.

The 2013 NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Championship Tournament field is scheduled to be announced via a live selection show at NCAA.com on Monday at 4:30 pm Pacific Time.  Sonoma State is looking to snag one of three at-large bids to qualify for next weekend's west regional tournament.

Watch the postgame interview with SSU head coach Emiria Salzmann Dunn by clicking here.

Also, view the photo gallery of Sunday's game here.

At least for the first 45 minutes, the Seawolves controlled the momentum and worked to shut down the mighty Warrior offense.  In fact, SSU allowed just one shot through the first 35 minutes of the contest and held the advantage in that category (5-4) in the opening period.  However both teams would go into the locker room at halftime scoreless.

It was much of the same to start the second half, but Cal State Stanislaus began to show why it is ranked No. 5 in the nation and will be the top seed in the NCAA regional next week.  At 65:48, Karenee Demery, the nation's leading scorer with 52 points (and has the second-most goals with 21), went on a breakaway and opened up a one-on-one situation with SSU goalkeeper Allison Hadidian.  Just before Demery could take a shot, both Demery and Hadidian collided and Hadidian was whistled for the foul, setting up a Warrior penalty kick.  On the ensuing attempt, Katelyn Nebesnick, the CCAA Tournament's Most Valuable Offensive Player, slotted the ball between the diving Hadidian and the right post for the first goal of the afternoon.

From that point on, Sonoma State was held to just one shot the rest of the way -- not including a last-second attempt from midfield at the end of regulation.  Cal State Stanislaus kept its intensity up, looking for the insurance goal, and with 37 seconds left on the clock, the Warriors' Kirsten Coleman struck for goal number two and the eventual 2-0 Cal State Stanislaus victory.

The Warriors held a 12-9 shot advantage in the contest, including 7-2 in the final 24 minutes.  Hadidian made three saves for the Seawolves, two of which came in the second half.  Warrior netminder, Chelsea Lewandowski (the tournament's Most Valuable Defensive Player) made two saves.

At the conclusion on Sunday's match, three other Seawolves, in addition to Hadidian, were selected to the CCAA All-Tournament Team -- forward Margi Osmundson, midfielder Gabby Squarcia and defender Shayla Mellenthin.

Sonoma State is looking to qualify for the NCAA tournament for the second straight year.  Should the Seawolves be one of the six teams to be selected to the west regional, they would join Cal State Stanislaus, Cal Baptist, Seattle Pacific (the three teams that earned their respective conference's automatic bids) and two other at-large selections to make up two sub-regional tournaments next weekend.  The top two seeds would have the opportunity to host one of the two sub-regionals and also earn a first-round bye.  SSU was the No. 2 team in the region entering this weekend's CCAA tournament.