CBU 3 – GCU 2 Box Score
ABILENE, Texas – The California Baptist Lancers captured the 2024 WAC Women’s Soccer Championship title with a 3-2 comeback win over No. 2 Grand Canyon at Elmer Gray Stadium, the program’s first-ever WAC Women’s Soccer Championship. The Lancers earned an automatic bid for the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament with today’s victory.
Jayden Ramirez was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player for her leadership and performance on the field. Ramirez recorded a goal and two assists (four points) in the tournament, one of those assists coming on the game-tying goal in the championship match. Joining Ramirez on the All-Tournament Team from the Lancers were
Summer Allen, Kaylee Hauck, Lauryn White, and
Morgan Witz.
Aleisha Ganief got the Lopes out to an early 1-0 lead with a goal in the 27
th minute, the only goal scored in the first half. Allen made a crucial double goal-line save as the Lopes fired off two consecutive shots past the goalkeeper, but Allen was there to keep the ball out of the net on both shots and kept the match within one goal.
Witz got her first two of four points in the championship match with the Lancer’s first goal of the match in the 53
rd minute.
AJ Loera capitalized on a GCU free kick in the 61
st minute and shot the ball into the back of the net to regain the lead for the Lopes at 2-1.
For the second straight game, the Lancers came back from a 2-1 deficit in the final 13 minutes of the match. California Baptist evened the score with a goal by
Grace Blumfeldt in the 78
th minute and scored the game-winning goal four minutes later when
Natalia Castro headed a corner kick from Witz into the net. The Lancers were able to hold off the Lopes for the rest of regulation and went on to claim their first WAC title.
The Lancers will now await for the NCAA DI Women’s Soccer Tournament Selection Show on NCAA.com on Monday, Nov. 11 at 4 p.m. ET, where they will find out who they will face in the first round. The first round of the tournament will take place Friday-Sunday, Nov. 15,16,17 with the national championship occurring Monday, Dec. 9
th.
2024 WAC Women’s Soccer All-Tournament Team
Summer Allen, D, California Baptist
Kaylee Hauck, F, California Baptist
Jayden Ramirez, MF, California Baptist (Most Outstanding Player)
Lauryn White, F, California Baptist
Morgan Witz, F, California Baptist
Aleisha Ganief, D, Grand Canyon
AJ Loera, MF, Grand Canyon
Sidney Roberts, D, Grand Canyon
Kassidy Kirgan, GK, Seattle U
Kait Raffensperger, D, Seattle U
Ruby Hladek, F, Utah Valley
- WAC -