HATTIESBURG, Miss. – It was a season of historic firsts for the Louisiana Christian University women's soccer program, including first double-digit win season, first winning season, first postseason appearance, first conference championships, and first National Tournament appearance, but it all ended as the Wildcats stood toe-to-toe with the undefeated, defending NAIA runner-up in #1 William Carey, only to see the Crusaders score the match's only goal with less than 35 seconds left in the match in a 1-0 loss Thursday evening at Crusader Field in the first round of the 38^thAnnual NAIA Women's Soccer National Championship Tournament.
 
The Wildcats defense had to be stellar for most of the night as the Crusaders continued to attack to LCU goal, but most shot attempts were either wide or soft attempts that could easily be covered by Jessica Carro Pedreira in goal. Carro Pedreira was incredible in goal throughout the match, however, as she was called on to make several spectacular saves to keep the match scoreless as the clock ticked to halftime.
 
LCU got some offense going in the second half, registering a couple of shots in the early portion of the period. But the match continued to hinge on defense as the Wildcats continued to lock down a potent Crusader offense and looked to turn that defense into counterattack opportunities.
 
But as the clock ticked under a minute until overtime, all it took was one unlucky bounce of the ball to end the Wildcats season as a Crusader shot from the left side was blocked, but quickly rolled over to another attacker on the right side, who fired into the top right corner with just 32 seconds remaining on the second half clock.
 
An answer by LCU would not come in the final 30 seconds and the greatest season in LCU women's soccer history came to a close at the hands of the team that have been #1 in the NAIA Top 25 polls since the preseason.
 
Kristel Chaves Bello, Laura Pérez Velasco, Aubrey Joslin, & Martina Terra Garcia each got off one shot in the contest, but all were wide of the goal.
 
Jessica Carro Pedreira (15-2-1) was credited with ten saves in the contest. She finished the season with the most wins as a goalkeeper in a single season in Wildcat history. She faced 26 shots in the match from William Carey, with 12 on frame. The Wildcats back line was credited with one team save for getting the ball away from the line on a shot attempt on an open net.
 
The Wildcats concluded their inaugural season as members of the NAIA with a 16-2-1 record and undisputed Red River Athletic Conference Champions. Their only two losses on the season came to NCAA D-I side Lamar University and NAIA's #1 team in William Carey in the National Tournament.