Pioneers Fall In Conference Championship

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – The University of Wisconsin-Platteville men's soccer team (13-2-5) fell 3-2 to top-seeded Mary Washington (16-1-2) in the Coast-to-Coast Conference Championship game on Sunday afternoon in Santa Cruz, California.

Junior Lucas Schoeneberg got the Pioneers on the board early, scoring on a corner kick in the 11^th minute. Sophomore Ethan Dietrich earned the assist after his kick made it all the way to the far post for Schoeneberg to head the ball home.

Mary Washington answered in the 15^th minute after collecting a loose ball in the box and firing a shot into an open net. The Eagles added another goal in the 29^th minute on a header that was placed into the left side panel following a strong cross.

In the second half, Mary Washington scored in the 64^th minute on a penalty kick to increase the lead to two. The Pioneers responded with a penalty kick make of their own on sophomore Sebastian Carranza's seventh goal of the season in the 80^th minute. UW-Platteville was unable to even the score in the final 10 minutes as Mary Washington held on for a 3-2 win.

The Pioneers held a slight edge in shots for the match, 17-14, while each team finished with seven shots on goal. Schoeneberg and junior Marcelo Garay led the team with three shots apiece, while seven other players recorded at least one shot.

Sophomore goalkeeper Seth Aiken tallied three saves across 90 minutes in net.

Mary Washington is the Coast-to-Coast Conference's automatic qualifier for the upcoming NCAA Division III Tournament, which begins next weekend. The selection show for the tournament takes place at 1 p.m. on Monday.