The Bears play California Lutheran University on Saturday, Dec. 2 at 11 a.m. CST for the NCAA DIII women’s soccer national championship title. (Bri Nitsberg | Student Life)

Last season, the Washington University women’s soccer season ended at the hands of the Messiah University Falcons in an Elite Eight penalty shootout. 375 days later, the Bears flipped the script.

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.  

This time, first-team All-American senior goalkeeper Sidney Conner — who was bested by all five Messiah shooters in last season’s season-ender — was determined to not let history repeat itself.

“We look at [research] a little bit, but when it comes down to PKs, it’s anyone’s guess,” Conner said. “So I was just trying to read their body language and which way they were going.”

WashU head coach Jim Conlon’s message to his team was simple: “We love every one of you, we trust every one of you, and we’ve got your back,” he said. 

After senior Jess Greven scored the Bears’ first shot, Conner made a diving save to her right, giving the Bears an early 1-0 lead in the shootout. Although sophomore Grace Ehlert’s strike was blocked and Conner was beat by the next Messiah shooter, senior Tyler Wilson put the Bears ahead 2-1 on her next shot. 

Once again, Conner was up to the test. The third Messiah shooter launched her penalty kick towards the goal, and Conner guessed correctly, sliding to her right to preserve the Bears’ lead. After WashU senior midfielder Anna Viscovich and a Messiah shooter converted, the shootout margin narrowed to 3-2. Conner’s two previous saves set the Bears up in prime position with just one shot remaining for each team.

All-American senior goalkeeper Sidney Conner in action earlier in this year NCAA women soccer tournament. (Bri Nitserbg | Student Life)

For the second game in a row, graduate student and second-team All-American center-back Ally Hackett stepped up to the penalty spot with a chance to send the Bears into their fourth ever National Championship game. 

She did just that.  

With the pressure on, Hackett launched a strike into the top-right corner, past the diving Messiah goalie’s outstretched arms and into the back of the net. As her team rushed towards her, Hackett ran straight to her goalkeeper to celebrate.

“I tip my hat to Messiah’s women; they did a really good job, and they were really hard to read, so I had to guess a little bit on some of them,” Conner said. “But I ended up making two huge saves, and I was super proud of the way that we could finish it off.” 

From the start of the game, the Bears looked like they were up to the test of the national stage. After a back-and-forth 15 minutes, junior midfielder Meryl McKenna took a shot at goal. Though her strike appeared to be rolling wide of the goal, a Messiah defender attempting to clear it redirected it towards her own goal, where it sailed past her unsuspecting goalie to open the scoring for WashU. 

“We built it out from the back, got it up there, and I saw it coming out and just went to find the ball. That’s what we talk about — go find the ball,” McKenna said. “It just meant a lot to put one away for the team.” 

While Messiah logged seven shots in the first half, the Bears looked set to hold on to their lead entering the break. However, with just two minutes left, Messiah junior midfielder Kristina Akselsen had other ideas. From about 25 yards out, she unleashed a shot that lofted past a diving Conner and into the top-left corner of the net. With the strike, Akselsen logged her eighth goal of the year, but more importantly, tied the Final Four matchup at one.

From that moment on, the two teams settled into a defensive stalemate. While both offenses looked potent, their defenses were up to the test. Conner and Messiah goalkeeper Ava Wert both had six saves across the 110 minutes. The two teams combined for 32 shots —  with the Bears narrowly outshooting Messiah 17-15 — throughout the match, but the defenses stood strong throughout the second 45, with both teams battling for every touch.  

“Each time we took a break, we said, ‘Come on, fight for one more minute, fight for one more minute.’ And I think they just continued to work their tails off on offense, and [I] thought we played our heart outs late in the game,” Conlon said.

Bri Nitsberg | Student Life

In extra time, the Bears found themselves on the front foot. Led by in-form sophomore forwards Grace Ehlert and Ella Koleno, they pushed for a breakthrough as the clock wound down. With six minutes left in extra time, the Bears appeared to find it.

After Koleno played the ball to freshman forward Julia Moore — one of the heroes of WashU’s dramatic Elite Eight victory  — on a breakaway, Moore rounded the keeper and slotted the ball into the net. Unfortunately for the Bears, however, the linesman’s offside flag shot up, nullifying the goal. 

The Bears almost found the net once again with under a minute left when Ehlert hit a strike from the edge of the box, but a diving save from the goalkeeper Wert denied the opportunity. After ninety minutes of play and two extra-time periods, the two teams found themselves once again heading to a penalty shootout in the NCAA tournament.

This year however, the Bears ended up on top thanks largely to the two saves by Conner and the goals by Greven, Wilson, Viscovich, and Hackett. They sealed their place in the National Championship game for the fourth time in program history and the first time since 2016. They will hope to replicate the magic of their 2016 appearance, when they won the only national title in program history. 

Bri Nitsberg | Student Life

Standing in the way, however, will be California Lutheran University, which is making its first-ever national championship appearance. Just like the Bears, the Regals booked their spot in the championship with two penalty-kick victories, upsetting No. 1 Christopher Newport University in the Elite Eight and taking down Tufts University in the Final Four. 

“All year, we’ve been down a number of times, and we’ve found ways to win,” said Cal Lutheran head-coach Frank Marino. The Regals, who beat the Bears 2-1 last season, will pose a tough test for the Bears in the national championship game. However, the Regals will potentially be missing a few key starters who were injured in the semifinal against Tufts. “Our athletic trainer is going to earn his keep in the next couple days,” Marino added after the match.

WashU also had a key member injured early in the game, starting winger Gaelen Clayton, who has nine goals this season. Conlon said Clayton will be getting upper-body imaging — with a potential shoulder injury to address — before evaluating if she can return to the pitch for Saturday’s game.

In the postgame interview, Conlon stole some words from his recently-crowned All-American, Conner. “She said, ‘I didn’t feel any emotion until after the PKs were done,’” Conlon reflected.  “And that’s the mentality that we have to have to get it done; we can’t get up on the peaks and valleys of a game.”  

“Candidly, there was some stuff that didn’t go our way. Messiah put us on our heels and played really well. Last game, there were a lot of goals scored; today was the ebbs and flows of the game. So I could not be more proud of the mental approach in what is a very hard thing called sports,” Conlon concluded.

The Bears will return to the field in Salem, VA — with the biggest trophy in Division III soccer on the line — Saturday, Dec. 2 at 11 a.m. CST.