WSU soccer beat University of California, Berkeley, 4-2 Thursday night on the Lower Soccer Field to end a five game losing streak.

Head Coach Todd Shulenberger said this victory means more as the NCAA Tournament looms.

“It is playoff soccer right now, every game matters from here on out,” he said. “We are still in the driver’s seat, and we still control our own destiny, but we got to defend our home turf out here.”

The Cougs opened the game with some offensive pressure, getting an early corner kick that almost gave WSU the lead in the second minute. Despite the strong start on offense for the Cougs, the Golden Bears took a 1-0 lead on their first shot of the game from freshman midfielder Paige Metayer in the 14^th minute.

The Cougars have had to face adversity all season, with three starters getting injured in their last game who were unable to play against the Golden Bears. WSU answered quickly in the 15th minute, tying the game on a goal from senior defender Maddy Haro, who was assisted by junior forward Morgan Weaver.

The Cougs kept up the offensive pressure and looked to take the lead on a Weaver shot in the 33rd minute before Cal goalie Amanda Zodikoff made a diving save in the 33rd minute. However, Zodikoff was unable to stop Weaver four minutes later as she found the back of the net after sophomore defender Hanna Goff stole the ball allowing Weaver to take a nice shot that curled in just past the Cal goalkeeper.

WSU looked like they were going to take a 2-1 lead into the half, but were unable to close when Cal tied the score at two in the 43rd minute on a goal from junior forward Abi Kim that just barely got past WSU redshirt-junior goalkeeper Rachel Thompson.

Both teams went into the half tied at two, but the Cougars were able to change that early in the second half on a goal scored by sophomore midfielder Sidney Pulver, her first of the year. The Cougars were almost able to extend their lead to two goals in the 69th minute but Zodikoff made another phenomenal save on Weaver.

However, WSU got its fourth goal in the 82nd minute from sophomore forward Brianna Alger, her second goal of the season, which was assisted by Weaver.

That would be all the scoring for the night as the Cougars snapped their five game losing streak with the 4-2 victory over the Golden Bears.

Now WSU turns its attention to the big matchup this Sunday where they will take on No. 1 Stanford University, as the Cougars look to get back to the postseason.

“That is a bonus game,” Shulenberger said. “They are the number one RPI [team] in the country, so we can only get better out of that game and we will give them our best and we have done that the last three years here.”

The Cougars will look to pull off the upset victory over Stanford at 2 p.m. Sunday on the Lower Soccer Field.