The curtain closed on what was a spectacular season for the 20th-ranked University of Redlands women's soccer team as the Bulldogs fell to UC Santa Cruz in the first round of the NCAA Championships by a 2-1 final on Saturday at Farquhar Field.

Annick Lamb received a penalty kick opportunity in the 31st minute and snuck a rare ball past junior goalkeeper Tenley Rawlings (Salt Lake City, UT) to put the Banana Slugs up 1-0.

After 29 scoreless minutes, the Bulldogs responded to UC Santa Cruz's goal when senior forward Erica Jahn (Davis, CA) tied the score off of a lofted shot taken from well outside the box.

Sophomore goalkeeper Bailey Hughes (Boise, ID) took over between the pipes after the equalizing goal due to an injury to Rawlings.

With Erica Wheeler-Durbin taking a corner kick in the 67th minute, Holly Sinclair got a piece of the ball, and Karli Cowman headed in a goal just inside the left post.

Freshman midfielder Fionna Connolly (Salem, OR) created a plethora of scoring opportunities for the maroon and gray but was unable to tie up the match after UC Santa Cruz's go-ahead goal. Connolly notched six shots, including two on goal.

Elli Vermillion provided the Slugs with a near-perfect outing in goal, stopping seven shots.

Redlands outshot UC Santa Cruz 19-5, and the Bulldogs posted eight shots on goal to the Banana Slugs' two. However, the Slugs did just enough to sneak past Redlands and punched their ticket to the second round of the NCAA playoffs.

With the win, UC Santa Cruz (12-6-1) will don the home kits for a 6 p.m. match against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges on Farquhar Field. The Athenas tied Hardin-Simmons University (TX) 0-0 and edged the Cowgirls 5-4 in penalty kicks in order to advance to the next round.

Redlands finishes the season at 14-6-1 and qualified for the NCAA tournament for the third time in program history and the first since 2004. In addition, the Bulldogs won the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) championship for the fourth time ever, and Head Coach Suzette Soboti has coached all four teams.