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The Warriors were ousted from the first round of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference tournament on Halloween night at Maxwell Field at Alltel Stadium, coming out on the losing end of a 4-3 shootout after a 0-0 tie to Southwest Minnesota State.
It was the first time in conference history the No. 1 seed failed to advance beyond the first round and snapped a seven game winning streak.
On Monday, one day after the NSIC tournament final but five days after the Warriors’ last game action, WSU was awarded a No. 2 seed in the 48-team NCAA Division II women’s soccer championship. As hosts of two rounds of the North Region bracket, the Warriors received a first-round bye and will play their first game at home Sunday against the winner of Nebraska-Omaha/Truman State.
It is WSU’s first berth in the national tournament since 2001. But unlike that year, when the Warriors advanced to the conference tournament championship and were playing their fourth game in less than a week when the NCAA tournament rolled around, WSU will open play in this year’s NCAA tournament on 10 days rest.
“In a way it was a blessing that we didn’t have to keep playing,” Warriors coach Ali Omar said. “Now having 10 days to practice and get healthy.
“Don’t get me wrong, we wanted to win and keep playing at home, but we have to keep our focus on the big picture. And the big picture is the national tournament.“
Omar said the tournament invitation was a long time coming for a perennially successful WSU squad.
“The last three years we’ve actually been right there,” Omar said. “But for some reason or another we didn’t make it.
“Coming into this year we knew we had a senior class that really needed to get that experience.“
Indeed, the Warriors had to have been considered at least a bubble team for their snubs over the past few seasons. The record of this year’s senior class to date is 65-11-8.
“There’s no questioning the passion of these girls the last four years,” Omar said.
The Warriors are led by NSIC offensive player of the year Holly Sutton. The senior forward leads the team with 13 goals and 12 assists in 20 games.
Senior midfielder Kallie Tellefsen and junior defenseman Heidi Woerle joined Sutton on the all-NSIC first team. Juniors Leslie Schumacher, Amelia Kasten and Amanda Diehm were named to the second team.
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