SAN ANTONIO, Texas – The Pacific Lutheran women's soccer team battled No. 8 Trinity nearly to a standstill Sunday night.
But the Tigers were able to escape with the win thanks to a goal in the 54th minute by Michaela Bosco.
The Lutes (17-2-3 overall) pressured the rest of the half, but couldn't find the equalizer.
"The first 20 minutes, they were all over us and we couldn't get the ball over the halfway line," PLU coach Seth Spidahl said. "We made some adjustments and it got a lot better. We finished the first half very well and I was very hopeful for the second half.
"We tried multiple different things, it just didn't quite work out."
The Lutes were in the second round of the national tournament for the first time since 2017 and seemed to have a bead on advancing to the Sweet 16 for the first time in program history, until Bosco netted her 20th goal of the season.
Julia Causbie had two shots on goal in the final 30 minutes and the PLU defense played with its standard excellence, but Trinity managed to hang on.
"I told the team after the game that they can look in the mirror and be disappointed we lost or we can look in the mirror and know that we gave it our all," Spidahl said. "The other team was just a little bit better.
"Despite them being on top of us, we didn't give up a lot and it took a world class shot to score. We just couldn't find a lot of offense."
Shaylin Cesar made five saves in goal, while the Lutes were outshot 25-9 including 6-2 on goal.
The Lutes, who were again without leading goal scorer Hannah Cecil, played with their normal intensity and left everything they had on the field, it just wasn't quite enough in the end.
"The senior class wanted to go further than last year and hey, mission accomplished," Spidahl said. "Last year we lost in the first round and didn't play great. They knew they could do better than that and they did just that.
"This is the first time all of those players have played in the second round of the NCAA tournament and only the second time in my tenure we have gotten there – and it is because of the seniors and their leadership."
