The rematch of the season finished with a season-ending loss for the St. Edward’s University (SEU) women’s soccer team.

In the Sweet 16 round of the Division II NCAA Tournament, No. 5 St. Edward’s lost 1-0 to conference rival No. 2 Dallas Baptist University (DBU) in Bellingham, Washington.

“The game was a close one – we got scored on early & that affected our mentality in the game. At half time, we re-grouped and then we dominate[d] the second half. Unfortunately we were unable to score the tying goal,” SEU Women’s Soccer Head Coach Nick Cowell said.

Earlier in the season, at the Heartland Conference (HC) championship on Nov. 8, and in regular season games on Oct. 15 and Sept. 24, DBU was the winner. This time, in the third round of the playoffs on Nov. 19, history would repeat itself.

Despite seven different scoring attempts in the second half, the greatest scoring opportunity came with less than five minutes left in regulation, after a foul on DBU resulted in a penalty kick for SEU. The HC Player of the Year and senior captain, defender Katie Donahue stepped up to take the penalty kick, which did not find the back of the net.

In the past five seasons, both teams have been on the winning side. Last year, SEU, this year, DBU.

For Cowell, this is his fifth Sweet 16 appearance in the past 10 seasons, and seventh consecutive season being selected to the NCAA Tournament. SEU also earned the NSCAA Team Academic Award again.

“We are proud of our team’s consistency … Our athletes excel academically while also representing the university on a national level in soccer,” Cowell said.

After winning two shutout victories against nationally-ranked teams in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, the SEU women’s soccer team finished their season with losses to only three different teams. They finish the season at the Division II South Central Regional Championship with a record of 14-6-1.

“Overall the season was a good one … The most important thing is that the team improved from the beginning of the season to the end. We had many freshmen and sophomores who got lots of playing time which should hold our team in good stead for the future,” Cowell says.