CMS Women's Soccer Pushes No. 3 WashU to Overtime, But Falls 2-1 in NCAA Round of 16

CLAREMONT, Calif. - Junior Katrina Ostrom gave the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's soccer team a 1-0 second half lead against No. 3 Washington University in the NCAA Round of 16 on Saturday afternoon, but the Bears were able to find the equalizer and won it on a header off a corner kick in overtime to advance to the quarterfinals.

The loss ends the CMS run with an 11-5-3 record after the Athenas matched the longest NCAA run in program history, tying the 2008 team which also moved on to the Round of 16 with a regional title. It was a remarkable run for a CMS team which appeared to have their season end in the regular season with a 1-0 loss to Chapman which kept it  out of the SCIAC Tournament. CMS earned a second life with an NCAA at-large bid and went on to win the regional title with a 2-1 victory over Emory and a 0-0 tie with Cal Lutheran which resulted in a 4-2 CMS win on penalty kicks. It 

The Round of 16 matchup with WashU saw the Athenas have a tough task against a Bears team that came in with a 17-1-2 record on the year and a No. 3 national ranking. CMS went toe-to-toe with the Bears in the first half, with WashU unable to put a shot on target in the first 45 minutes, while senior Sarah Tocher had one shot saved and another miss just wide of the left post for the Athenas. 

Early in the second half, Tocher helped give CMS the lead when she assisted on the goal from Ostrom, her second goal of the season, as she put Tocher's cross into the far right corner. That gave the Athenas a 1-0 advantage at the 60:54 mark, leaving them 29 minutes from an NCAA quarterfinal appearance. 

The lead was short-lived as the Bears earned a corner kick just over two minutes later, and after CMS cleared the first effort, WashU scored off the secondary effort with Gabbie Cesarone heading the ball in off an assist from Katy Mockett. 

WashU kept the momentum after the goal and out-shot CMS 13-0 after the game was tied, as the Athenas tried to hang on to get to penalty kicks for a second game in a row. Ellie DeConinck hit the outside of the post for WashU on a low shot in the 88th minute on the best chance for either team during the final 25 minutes of regulation, while junior goalie Cam Hamson helped send the game to overtime with a save in the final minute.

Seven minutes into the extra session, WashU got the ball down the left side of the field, where an attempted cross was deflected over the end line for a corner. Kristen Reikersdorfer took the corner kick, and bent a ball into the center of the box just outside the top of the six, where Taylor Cohen was able to head it into the side netting inside the far post, ending the game at the 97:08 mark, and ending the CMS season. 

The Athenas will graduate five seniors off the 2019 team, including their four top scorers, led by midfielder Rhiann Holman. Tocher, Kira Favakeh and Gabby Clouse were also in the team's top four scorers this season who will need to be replaced, but the Athenas will return their entire defensive unit next year as they look to build on this year's NCAA run.