The last time the Lower Columbia College women's soccer team made the playoffs was 2005.  The 12 year drought is over!

LCC won its 5th straight match on Monday October 30th, defeating Bellevue 3-1 in a tie-breaker to decide the #3 team in the West Region.

Bellevue, playing its second game in three days at Northlake Field, took the early lead.  Jordyn Matthews goal at 9' gave the Bulldogs the 1-0 lead, putting the Devils back on their heels for awhile.

But at the 25th minute, sophomore Taylor Sweeney boomed a 35 yard kick perfectly over the goal keep to tie the match.

Tied 1-1 at half, the Devils came back on the field with resolve.  Ashlynn Willis scored her 9th goal of the season, an unassisted tally at 46' that gave LCC the lead they would not relinquish.

A foul in the box at 83' gave LCC a goal kick and Kate Blackstone-Burgess cashed it in when her shot rebounded off the goalkeeper.

The Devils then played out the game and when the whistle sounded, head coach Harlan Cruser received a water jug bath.  Cruser announced earlier that he would be retiring after season is completed.  Although it was his last game as head coach at Northlake Field, it's not his last for LCC.  The Red Devils will travel to Eugene Wednesday night for a first round NWAC playoff.

Goalkeeper Kennedy Werner had four saves.  The Devils had eight shots on goal. The Bulldogs had five.

Bellevue committed 16 fouls to the Devils eight.

The LCC defense was again stellar led by sophomore Grace Peacock and freshman Chloe Brimhall.

But it was an entire team effort that touched off an emotional celebration after the game.  Coach Cruser was touched with emotion.  He took over the suspended LCC soccer program seven years ago and built it from scratch.  There were some awfully lean years record-wise.  But the talent got better every season and it culminates with a playoff berth in Cruser's final year as head coach.

Assistant Bryan Vogel, who has done an outstanding job as head coach-in-waiting, will take over as Red Devil head coach in 2018.

The Devils will take on a red-hot Lane Titan team, winners of six in-a-row.  Lane is 10-5-2 overall and was 9-3-0 taking the South Region #2 seed.

Wednesday night's match will be under the lights, a 6 pm start on the campus of Lane Community College in Eugene, Oregon.