THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – The 2017 Cal Lutheran women's soccer team accomplished some new feats that the team had never done before as the Regals advanced to their first Division III NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen appearance and ended the year ranked in the top-25.
The Regals won the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletics Conference (SCIAC) Championship with a conference record of 11-1-2. They received an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament and hosted the first two rounds of the tournament.
Cal Lutheran defeated UC Santa Cruz, 2-0, in the first round and faced Pacific Lutheran in the second. The Regals and Knights tied in regulation, and CLU moved on to the next round via penalty kicks, 5-4. The Regals fell short to the eventual NCAA Champions, Williams College, in the third round. In the final United Soccer Coaches poll, Cal Lutheran was No. 19.
Cal Lutheran racked up the accolades on its way to winning the SCIAC Championship and playing in the Sweet Sixteen. Kali Youngdahl was named the SCIAC Player of the Year, Trinity Martinez earned Newcomer of the Year and Frank Marino and his staff garnered Coaching Staff of the Year.
Maddy Griess and Olivia Leyva joined Youngdahl and Martinez on the All-SCIAC First Team while Sam Cornejo and Sarah Tadeusiak were named to the Second Team.
The team continued to garner awards as Leyva was named First Team All-West Region, Youngdahl and Martinez were named Second Team and Cornejo was named to the Third Team.
Youngdahl led the SCIAC with 13 goals and added seven assists for a team-high 33 points. Seven of her goals were game-winners and she finished the season ranked fourth in the nation for that category.
In her freshman campaign, Cornejo scored the second-most goals on the team with seven. Alexandria Albaeck was third with four goals, Martinez, Jordan Miller and Bri Pinal added three while Joss Pereda and Griess added two apiece.
Martinez had the second-most assists with six and Griess pitched in with three. Leyva, Pinal and Tadeusiak recorded two apiece.
Gabby Flores and Alysa Frazier split time in goal for the Regals. Flores had a record of eight wins, three losses and two ties. Frazier was 6-0-1. The duo worked very well with the defense of Leyva, Martinez, Zandra Stewart, Alexandra Fagerberg, Tessa Dwyer, Riley Martin and Katie Weaver. The defense held opponents to only 24 goals and had nine shutouts.
"I am really proud of our group for building on last year's culture and the success we had this season," said head women's soccer coach Frank Marino. "The hard work in the off season paid off for our players and very much looking forward to what is in store for next season."
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Release by Ryan Jorgenson, Sports Information Director
