PULLMAN, Wash. – The Washington State women's soccer season ended in sudden fashion Friday night, as the Cougars (14-6-0, 7-4-0) fell to Northwestern (14-5-2, 7-3-1) in double overtime at Lower Soccer Field in the opening round of the NCAA Championship. The game-winning goal came from the Wildcats' Michelle Manning in the 104th minute, advancing NU to the second round of the Championship.

“Overall, we played well,” WSU Head Coach Todd Shulenberger said. “It's just a part of the game sometimes and we let one slip there at the end. We'll rebound. They'll be fine. I'm super proud of this group. I hurt for our seniors, but we will rebound as we did all year.”

The Cougars outshot Northwestern 15-9 in the match, putting six shots on frame to the Wildcats' four. WSU had six corner kicks, while NU had two. The match marked the fifth-straight trip to the NCAA postseason for Washington State, a first for the program, and the fifth-straight double-overtime match in the opening round for the Cougars, who fell to 2-8-3 all-time in postseason play.

Northwestern scored the game-winning goal four minutes into the second period of overtime, as NU's Marisa Viggiano played a through ball to Manning. Manning received the ball with just WSU's redshirt-freshman goalkeeper, Ella Dederick, to beat and put the ball out of her reach from 10 yards out to silence the 935 fans in attendance.

WSU freshman Maddy Haro nearly scored the game-winning goal three minutes earlier in the opening moments of the second overtime period. The true freshman found the ball at her feet about 20 yards outside Northwestern's box. She lined up a shot and fired the ball just over the crossbar, dropping the shot into the top netting.

In the 17th minute, junior Kaitlyn Johnson made a quick turn at the top of the box before firing a shot on frame. The Wildcats' goalkeeper, Lauren Clem, was forced to tip the attempt over the crossbar, one of six saves for her in the match. Dederick made three saves in the match, bringing her season total to 99 saves, the most by a Cougar since 2008.

The Cougars' backline shined throughout most of the night, forcing eight offside calls on Northwestern. Freshman Grace Hancock and redshirt-junior Susie White cut off a number of attacks in the center of the field, while sophomore Jordan Branch and Bremer controlled play along the outside, limiting the Wildcats' cross attempts.

WSU finished the season with 14 wins, tied for the most single-season victories in school history. The Cougar senior class of Beau Bremer, Kourtney Guetlein, Isabel Neyman, and Cara Wegner recorded 50 wins in their time on the Palouse, the most in any four-year span in program history.

“This is a winning senior class,” Shulenberger said. “They've been to the NCAA tournament all four years – that doesn't happen a lot. I tell these women every day, 'Winning is hard.' This senior group knows how to win. They will be hard to replace.”

Guetlein finished her career with 20 assists, the second-most in school history and three shy of the program record. Bremer appeared in 82 matches during her career, the second-most in school history. Wegner also finds herself in the record book with seven-career game-winning goals, tied for fifth-most all-time.

COUGAR NOTES

Washington State appeared in its fifth-straight NCAA Championship, a first for the program…the appearance was the Cougars' 10th all-time…WSU has played to double-overtime in five-consecutive NCAA First Round matches …WSU fell to 2-8-3 all-time in NCAA postseason play…the Cougar senior class of Beau Bremer, Kourtney Guetlein, Isabel Neyman, and Cara Wegner led WSU to 50 wins in a four-year span, the most in program history.