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Women's soccer falls short in HL championship

As Yogi Berra would say, “It’s déjà vu all over again.”

The Wright State women’s soccer team had their season came to an end Sunday in Milwaukee as the team lost 1-0 in the Horizon League championship game.

It’s the second year in a row the Raiders have made the championship game, only to fall to the Panthers.

The Raiders advanced to the championship game with 1-0 wins over both Youngstown State and Detroit in the first and second rounds of the Horizon League tournament, with senior Emilie Fillion scoring the lone goal in each match. But the championship game was a different story.

The Raiders won in dramatic fashion earlier in the season at Milwaukee when they scored with two seconds to go in double overtime. This time, the Panthers got the last laugh.

“I think last year we were more excited just to be there last year,” senior Lauren Patterson said. “But this year we really felt like we could win it all.”

Milwaukee won the game on a golden goal at the 7:31 mark of the second overtime after a failed clearance by the WSU defense rebounded onto the foot of Milwaukee’s Krissy Dorre, who put it home and ended the Raiders’ season.

“It’s going to be painful for a while,” Fillion said. “I was looking around [when the goal was scored] and I just felt heartbroken for everyone. In my mind, I saw every single game that we worked for this year and I didn’t want it to end. We were so close and it’s just so heartbreaking to lose in double overtime.”

For Patterson, the feeling is mutual.

“It does sting,” Patterson said. “It hit hard knowing my career is done. The worst part was listening to Milwaukee celebrate after the game.”

While the 2012 campaign may be over, expectations will be high next year. But despite their recent string of success, the WSU program still hasn’t won a conference title, leaving unfinished business for the Raiders.

“I think our program is definitely headed in the right direction,” Patterson said. “We’re only graduating five seniors, which is the smallest class since I’ve been here.”

In addition to losing fewer players than normal to graduation, the freshmen class this season played a significant role in the teams success, as four freshmen started in the championship game and another came off the bench.

“Our bench was extremely deep this year,” Patterson said. “The level of play didn’t decrease when we made substitutions. There’s not a lot of teams that can say that when they make subs.”

“It’s good that the freshmen were able to get experience playing with our class,” Fillion said. “They’ll be able to reach for higher standards like they did this year.”

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