LOS ANGELES — LMU lost to Santa Clara in the first semifinal of the WCC Tournament 4-0 on Wednesday at Sullivan Field. The Lions' season comes up just short of the NCAA Tournament, but they'll finish as the WCC regular season co-champions.
Santa Clara held the advantage all game, finishing with 19 shots and seven on goal while the Lions recorded seven shots and three on frame. LMU kept two Santa Clara attacking stretches from producing a goal, and the Lions' offense included a late three-shot push.
Malia Suehiro led LMU with three shots and put one on goal.
Elise Bolanos recorded two shots, both on frame.
JJ Hoover played all 90 minutes in goal and finished with three saves.
The Lions withstood an early Santa Clara push, but Santa Clara broke through with goals in the 33rd and 38th minutes to send LMU into halftime down 2-0. Earlier, the Lions absorbed eight Santa Clara attacking actions from 8:41 to 17:14, including three corner kicks and five shots, while keeping the match scoreless. The Lions' best chance of the half came in the 21st minute, when
Elise Bolanos put a shot on frame to the bottom left that Ally Harrison saved. After Jacey Martinez scored at 32:54 and Lucy Wimsatt added another at 37:14,
JJ Hoover made saves in the 35th and 42nd minutes to keep the Lions within two at the break.
Santa Clara added to the Lions' halftime deficit with goals at 52:03 and 61:33, both assisted by Lucy Wimsatt, leaving LMU trailing 4-0. The Lions had early second-half looks from
Malia Suehiro, including a shot saved by Ally Harrison at 49:18, then earned back-to-back corners in the 65th minute before
Taylor Person followed with a shot. After Santa Clara generated a run of shots and corners,
JJ Hoover made a save on Aoi Kataoka in the 81st minute to keep the score at 4-0. The Lions continued to press late with shots from Suehiro,
Kaela Standish and
Elise Bolanos, but Bolanos' saved attempt was the final Lion shot as LMU fell 4-0.
The Lions finish the season 7-7-4 overall. Santa Clara improves 9-2-9 overall and will face the winner of Pepperdine and Seattle on Saturday for a trip to the NCAA Tournament.
