SEATTLE, Wash.-- On a windy evening at Championship Field, the 'Runners were unable to capitalize on opportunities and fell to New Mexico State by a score of 3-0. With the loss, Bakersfield was knocked out of the WAC Tournament.

The 'Runners controlled possession for much of the first half, creating chance after chance, but Bakersfield was unable to capitalize. The Aggies would strike first on Layla Todd's seventh goal of the season to take a 1-0 lead. The NMSU forward was fed by Katie Smith who sent a nice through ball to the right side of the box and Todd finished in the back corner of the net.

Bakersfield responded to the goal nicely with more pressure on New Mexico State, but just as the rest of the half went, the 'Runners could not convert. With 13 minutes to go, Hedda Regefalk (So., Stockholm, Sweden, Blackesberg Gymnasium) got a look at the goal, but NMSU's goalie, Taylor Rice, made a diving save to keep the 1-0 lead. Again, in the final minute of the half, Regefalk took a shot in the middle of the box that just went over the crossbar as the 'Runners would go to halftime trailing 1-0.

Bakersfield continued its motif of creating chances without being able to finish into the second half. Just two minutes after halftime, Regefalk was fed in the middle of the box, but her shot went just high and hit the crossbar. The Aggies hoarded possession of the ball in the middle of the second period. Todd nearly put her second goal of the game in the back of the net in the 72nd minute after chipping over Bakersfield's goalie, Tori Ornela (R-Jr., Lemoore, Calif., Lemoore HS). The shot glanced off the post and out of bounds to keep the score at 1-0.

Despite holding a 13-5 shot advantage in the first half and 23-12 in the game overall, Bakersfield could not overcome its missed opportunities. Jennae Cambra broke away from the Roadrunner defense and put a dagger in the thoughts of a Bakersfield equalizer. NMSU's second goal of the match came with just 10 minutes to go and was Cambra's 14th of the year. Five minutes later, Todd chipped Ornela to give New Mexico State a 3-0 lead.

Regefalk led the 'Runners on the evening, giving Bakersfield its best looks to score. The sophomore Swede took 10 shots which is an all-time CSUB record for the most shots by an individual in a match. 

With the loss in the opening round of the WAC Tournament, the 'Runners (4-16-1) have concluded their season. Looking forward to 2015, Bakersfield's head coach, Gary Curneen, will return a strong group of players for his second season at the helm of the team. With a large group of talented underclassmen like Regefalk and Jess Moorehead (Fr., Strabane, N. Ireland, Strabane Academy), Curneen and Bakersfield will look to make a run to their second ever WAC Tournament.

Curneen had this to say after his team's performance: "It's always tough to lose a tournament game which ends the season. It makes it even harder that we created enough chances to take care of it much earlier in the game. As our performances have improved significantly in recent weeks, our execution in key areas has not been up to par and that cost us in the last two games. I must give credit to the seniors who led this group and gave everything tonight. We will use this experience to fuel our offseason and come back even stronger next year. "

~www.GoRunners.com~