Despite a resilient second-half effort that included control over the majority of possession, three shots, and five corner kicks, the Bears never put the ball in the back of the net. With their one goal, Cal Lutheran rode to their first-ever national title, becoming the first unranked team to achieve the feat.

After 110 minutes of gridlocked soccer in this year’s Final Four matchup, the Bears and Falcons headed to a penalty shootout once again. “The history of these two teams, these two programs — we could have just gone to PKs and been done with it. Saved ourselves some time,” Messiah head coach Scott Frey quipped after the game.  

After a dramatic win against the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, the Washington University women’s soccer team is back in the NCAA Division III Final Four for the first time since 2018. In the semifinals — which will be played on Thursday, Nov. 30 in Salem, VA — the Bears will take on a familiar foe: Messiah University. 

“We knew it was coming,” said senior midfielder Jess Greven after the match. “Not for a second did I doubt that we wouldn’t equalize, and eventually we did. We knew that we were gonna get what was coming because we’ve been working for it. We deserved it and we earned it.” 

From Saturday’s opening whistle to Sunday’s final tweet, WashU played 180 minutes of top-notch soccer to cruise through Maryville College and Sewanee: The University of the South and earn a spot in the Sweet 16. 

It may have taken 90 tense minutes and a little bit of help from division rivals, but after a stalemate in the regular season finale, the No. 2 Washington University women’s soccer team clinched the 2023 University Athletic Association (UAA) women’s soccer conference title with a 0-0 draw against conference rival University of Chicago. The Bears have now won eight of the last nine UAA titles.

For the first time all season, the Bears had conceded a goal, and they quickly found themselves playing from behind. Ultimately, despite a resilient attempt to mount a comeback, they would fall to the No. 6 Yellowjackets 2-1, ending college soccer’s best clean-sheet streak and placing their UAA division lead in jeopardy. Just five days after they had been named the best team in the country, the Bears were knocked off their perch and are back to the No. 2 spot in this week’s rankings.

“We’re exactly where we want to be. We worked pretty hard and played really well against super-talented and very strong opponents. So there were no hard feelings. We’re just looking forward to getting back on the field for our next game,” senior goalkeeper Sid Conner said after the weekend’s matches. 

With the victory, WashU handed the Violets their second loss of the season in a closely fought game, dropping them to 1-1 in University Athletic Association (UAA) conference play and bringing the Bears to 3-0. 

There are 1,893 NCAA men’s and women’s soccer teams. All but one of them have conceded a goal over the last two months. Eight games into its season, the Washington University women’s soccer team is the sole exception: college soccer’s only clean sheet.