PULLMAN, Wash. – In its final home match of the regular season, the Washington State soccer team fell to the visiting No. 14 California Golden Bears, 1-0, Sunday at Lower Soccer Field. The Bears (12-4-2, 5-3-0) secured the lone goal of the match in the 56th minute to spoil the No. 25 Cougars' (11-5-0, 4-4-0) Senior Day festivities.

“Our seniors are a great group of young women,” WSU Head Coach Todd Shulenberger said. “They gave it their all. They work hard and are great leaders, great roles models, and great people. It hurt for them, but it's a part of the game. It's why we're here.”

California's Karly Graf scored the game-winning goal early in the 56th minute when she found spaced at the left edge of WSU's penalty area. After receiving a pass from Arielle Ship along the left touchline, Graf faced up on goal and put the ball in the upper right corner to give the Bears the 1-0 lead.

The Cougars had an opportunity to take the lead early in the second half when senior Kourtney Guetlein was fouled along the endline in California's box. The referee pointed to the penalty spot, where redshirt-junior Susie White stepped up to take the shot. White was unable to keep the shot on frame, sending the ball up above the crossbar and the scored tied 0-0.

WSU pressured the Bears throughout the match with nine corners, including five in the second half. WSU put five of its 11 looks on frame, while California put 5-of-18 shots on target. Senior Cara Wegner nearly gave the Cougars a 1-0 lead in the ninth minute when she lined up a shot from the top of the box. Her strike went high and right, nearly gracing the upper right corner before floating high.

In the first half, WSU capitalized on limited opportunities. The Cougars had two shots on goal to California's one, despite being outshot 10-4.

Late in the opening period, WSU nearly scored again as redshirt-senior Beau Bremer was on the receiving end of a service into the box. Bremer stood at the six-yard box with her back to the goal and attempted to head the ball up and over the California keeper. The shot nearly found the back of the net as the Bears' keeper mishandled the ball, but was able to prevent the goal be poking the loose ball out the endline.

After returning from the break and conceding the California goal, WSU increased its pressure in the Bears' defensive third. The Cougars played several balls through the box, but were unable to break through the backline. Wegner nearly found the equalizer in the 71st minute as she carried the ball into the California penalty area. She cut inside a Bear defender at the six-yard box, but was unable to get a shot off before another defender stepped in to poke it free.

In the final six minutes, Guetlein and Bremer looked to even the score as Guetlein found room down the left side. She played a ball square across the box to an unmarked Bremer at the far post, but the cross was just out of reach of Bremer's foot as the ball rolled through untouched.

On the defensive end, WSU redshirt-freshman goalkeeper Ella Dederick made four saves, including three in the second half. The Cougars and Bears committed 11 fouls apiece.

Washington State will conclude its regular season with its remaining three matches on the road. The Cougars will travel to Oregon next week to face Oregon Friday, Oct. 30, and Oregon State Sunday, Nov. 1. Both matches will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks. WSU wraps up the regular season Thursday, Nov. 5, at Washington.

COUGAR NOTES

The Cougars set a single-season home attendance record with 10,242 fans in attendance for WSU's nine home matches in 2015…the mark breaks the previous cumulative attendance record by nearly 3,000 fans (7,295 in 2014)…WSU's four seniors, Beau Bremer, Kourtney Guetlein, Isabel Neyman, and Cara Wegner, were all honored prior to the start of the match for their contributions to the WSU soccer program…the senior class has won 47 matches in the past four years, one shy of the most wins in a four-year span in school history…Neyman earned her first-career start…the loss marks the fourth time this season WSU has been shutout…WSU dropped to 9-14-3 all-time against California…WSU fell to 102-91-22 all-time in the month of October.