PORTLAND, Ore. – Facing #16 Western Washington in the NCAA Women's Soccer Tournament for the second time in as many seasons, the Seawolves proved unable to best the Vikings in their postseason rematch, falling 1-0 and ending their postseason run in the first round.
 
"To be honest, I think we let down. I think we had opportunities to score early and to tie the game and I think we just didn't put our chances away," said head coach Emiria Salzmann Dunn. So we had to change tactics a little bit to generate a little bit more offense and it just didn't work out for us. I think we were one or two good touches away from a tie and either taking that to overtime or giving ourselves a chance in regulation time to come back but it just didn't go our way."
 
The Vikings found the match's lone goal early on as Gabriela Pelogi was able to put her head on a ball from Liv Larson and redirect a it to the left of keeper Kristen Spear from four yards out. Finding their lead in the 16th minute, Western Washington never looked back.
 
Sonoma State changed up their formation at halftime with the goal of getting more service and generating more offensive chances. The transition more than doubled the amount of shots the Seawolves took in the latter half (11) but despite the five shots that fell on frame, Natalie Dierickx kept her opponent out of the back of the net preserving the shutout.
 
"It's kind of been the tale of our team this year. We go down or we let the other team get in the game and have to chase the game and this season we've gotten lucky a lot of the times" said senior Miriam Bloom. "We were trying to rally and get back together and it just didn't fall our way today. So, [we] can't do much about it. It depends on whatever team is going to be on and it just wasn't our day."
 
The Seawolves have struggled with injuries throughout their season, losing key midfielders Bloom and West for large portions of the year, but have consistently relied on depth to get them through games, and push numerous games past regulation--where they have not lost a single game.
 
One of Sonoma State's best chances of the game came in the final 1:15 of play as Molly Murphy sent a looping ball into the far-side corner. A crashing Sonoma State player left her mark and darted into the six, but she proved unable to put the one-hop ball away.
 
After the game, Bloom was asked about her time Sonoma State Uniform. Fighting back tears, the All-Conference midfielder recapitulated her career with the Seawolves.
 
"My time here was great. We actually made it to the tournament all four years, so that was good. I was injured this year, so this was only my fifth game back playing as a senior so that was a little rough. But everything I've learned here on and off the field here is just amazing. I would not want to be a part of another program. This is the program I wanted to be [in] and we really had the opportunity and the chance and every year. It falls our way sometimes and sometimes doesn't. This year was a year of adapting to a lot of things you wouldn't have expected to have happen, and we did it for the most part, most of the season, but sometimes it just runs out. I'm thankful that my team was able to get me to the post season and that I was able to participate in games like this."