STEVENS POINT, Wis. - After making it to the final round of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Tournament, the UW-Eau Claire women's soccer team fell short of taking the spot after falling 3-1 to UW-Stevens Point today at Pointer Soccer Bowl.

Stevens Point entered the game today having won 4-0 against UW-Platteville in the WIAC quarterfinals and 4-1 against UW-La Crosse in the WIAC semifinals. Earlier this season, the Blugolds also lost to Stevens Point in a closely battled 1-0 loss at the Bollinger Fields.

The Blugolds looked good early on in the contest, putting in the first goal of the game at 2:31. Alyssa Walker (Fr.-Madison, Wis./West) scored the first goal for the Blugolds with a header on an assist from Jamie Schiesel (So.-Plymouth, Minn./Armstrong). The assist was Schiesel's 11th on the year while Walker scored her first goal of the year.

The Blugolds slowly began to lose control of the game at 28:48 as Stevens Point's Jackie Spees crossed it in to Leah Larson for a header goal to tie the game at 1-1.

The second half didn't prove to have much more luck for the Blugolds as Steven's Point's Kaylee Weise beat Eau Claire's defenders to score an unassisted goal at 55:46 to give them the 2-1 lead. With the Blugolds only one goal behind and looking for a chance at redemption, lady luck sided against the Blugolds as they scored an own goal at 71:26, putting UW-Stevens Point up 3-1 for the rest of the game.

The Blugolds had a good day of shooting, matching Stevens Point with eight total shots today. Eau Claire, however, had all eight shots on goal while Stevens Point only had five shots on goal. Stevens Point goalkeeper Pam Luckow had just four saves on the day while Eau Claire's goalkeeper Allie Rivard (Sr.-Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata) recorded six saves on the day.

The win today gave Stevens Point their 12th WIAC Championship and their first championship since 2004. Stevens Point also receives an automatic berth to the NCAA Division III tournament with the win today.

The Blugolds ended up with a 17-2-3 on the season while Stevens Point ended with a 17-3-0 record. The Blugolds will now have to wait to see if they are selected to the NCAA post-season tournament.

Eau Claire-Stevens Point Statistics

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