BELLINGHAM, Wash. – PacWest Champion California Baptist saw its season come to an end in the first round of the NCAA West Regional on Thursday afternoon with a 1-0 loss to No. 3 seed Sonoma State at Western Washington University.
 
The Lancers’ 498-minute scoreless streak came to an end in the 72nd minute of the first-round contest, when Sarah Lindborg scored off a pass by Madison Watts. California Baptist took nine shots and put four of them on frame, but didn’t find the equalizer as Sonoma State (16-4-1) advanced to the West Region semifinals.
 
The Lancers finished the season with an 11-5-3 record and a conference title, which was the third in program history. CBU also had two First Team All-PacWest selections in Sara Escobedo and Desarae Felix, who both were receiving their third career all-conference honor. This was the Lancers’ second trip to the postseason after falling in penalty kicks to Cal State San Bernardino in 2013.
 
California Baptist had a slow start to its season dropping three of its first four contests, but bounced back quickly in dominant fashion with a seven-match winning streak. On October 19, the Lancers defeated Azusa Pacific to take control of the top spot in the PacWest standings. California Baptist went on to tie both of its opponents in the final week of the season, which proved to be just enough to clinch the conference title and secure a berth into the postseason.
 
Sonoma State will go on to play defending national champion Western Washington, which is the tournament’s No. 2 seed. The first meeting between the two teams this year will kick off at 1 p.m. (Pacific) on Saturday in Bellingham, Washington.