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No. 12 Western Washington Ends Toros Season in 1-0 NCAA West Region Semifinal

Award-winning Melanie DeSalvo will lead the Toros in 2009
Box Score
Bellingham, WA -- Cal State Dominguez Hills mounted a spirited second-half charge in its NCAA West Region semifinal match-up against No. 12 and top-seeded Western Washington, but the Viking defense withstood eight Toro attempts in the final 6-plus minutes of play to secure a 1-0 win over CSUDH, ending the Toros' season at 14-10 and moving the hosts to the West Region final against Seattle Pacific next week.

This marks the second-consecutive year CSUDH's season has ended in a second-round match-up to the region's top seed in the state of Washington, after the Toros disposed of UC San Diego but fell to top-seeded Seattle Pacific in 2007.

Western took charge of the game early, tallying an 11-3 shot advantage over the visitors, but four saves by Alyssa Congdon kept the Vikings off the board and the Toros very much in the game.

The second half began like the first half ended, with WWU peppering the Toro goal with attempt after attempt.  After two misses, the Vikings' Lucy Miller finally connected after Jenny Barton and Kelly Irving combined to deliver the ball outside of the box, where Miller found the back of the net for a 1-0 lead.

That's where the contest stood as the game neared the end of regulation, until the Toros mounted their final charge.  After a corner kick by Melanie DeSalvo in the 80th minute, five different Toros took aim at the Viking goal, only to see the Toros misfire on five attempts, and WWU goalie Kyle Broadbent make 3 saves, the last coming on a Colleen McNamee blast with three seconds left in the game.

With the help of that charge, CSUDH enjoyed a 12-8 shot attempt edge after the break, but was blanked for just the fourth time all year.

This contest marked the last game for seniors Yvonne Vasquez, Monique Castro, Kelly Matosian and Cassie McKay, but finds the 2009 squad in good shape with the likes of 1st-team Daktronics All-Region, 1st-team All-CCAA and CCAA Newcomer of the Year in junior DeSalvo (pictured), 1st-team All-CCAA freshman Jessica Murphy, and 3rd-team All-CCAA selection sophomore keeper Congdon.

Tune in later tonight for head coach Joe Flanagan's thoughts on the game, and on the season.

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