DELAND, Fla. – Stetson women's soccer dropped its final match at home to Florida Gulf Coast, 3-1, on a cool night at the Athletic Training Center.

"The takeaway is when we execute the gameplan we're fantastic," head coach Chris Bergmann said "We did that coming into the second half and created a great goal scoring opportunity. We knew this was a goal keeper we needed to test more, and when we did test her, great things happened. We saw it happen in the first 10 minutes of the game and the first five minutes of the second half. We have to protect the goal a bit more and not give opportunities away; we take those away and we find this game in our favor. We needed to take attack with numbers, commit to it, be courageous and take risks. We know when we did that in this game and previous, we are extremely dangerous in the final third."

Perhaps the worst-case scenario for starting the match struck the home side tonight, an own goal 15 minutes into the match. A sharp service across the mouth of goal was too hot for the back line to handle and FGCU benefited from the mistake, 1-0.

In a difficult situation, senior center back Sydney McKee stopped a counterattack at the cost of a yellow card and free kick. Eagles center back punched a left-footed free kick toward net, and the arcing shot got over goalkeeper Ashleigh Wise and tucked under the cross bar, 2-0 in favor of the away side.

A refreshed and energized home side took full advantage of the halftime break and adjusted to FGCU and forced the issue on the Eagle back five. The resulting pressure gave the Hatters energy and they found a break through. After an errant pass found its way to right back Kendall Brittingham, the Kennesaw, Georgia native found Gaby Padilla. The right back in defense tucked in on Padilla to trap her, but the Hatter midfielder one-touched it wide to Kylie Overstreet. Overstreet sent a through-ball forward for Washington. The forward created a gap and sent in a low cross. Sullivan misplayed the ball, and Hanna Arvay was on the spot for her third goal of the year. Washington and Overstreet were awarded assists on the play.

Fourteen minutes 12 seconds later, the Eagles went up by two again as a bouncing through-ball got behind the Stetson back four. Louise Lillback found the net with Wise unable prevent the score, 3-1 in the 65th minute.

That score line would remain unchanged in the final 25 minutes.

Stetson has one final opportunity to secure a post-season bid with a match on Sunday at 1 p.m., representing the final chance. The Hatters could potential make the postseason regardless of outcome, but it comes down to a scenario of outcomes, rather than win and you're in. Be sure to follow @StetsonWsoccer twitter for possible updates.

About Stetson University Athletics: Stetson University's Athletics Program is driven by a shared purpose. It is what inspires, motivates and binds us together. More than a task, a reason for being. THE HATTER PURPOSE is to create and provide an experience of a lifetime through teamwork and relationships to achieve excellence. This purpose is achieved through five Core Values: Communication, Integrity, Excellence, Value People and Commitment. To learn more about the HATS program and our Core Values, visit GoHatters.com/HATS (PDF). Get in on the conversation on social media by following Stetson Athletics on  Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. For video content, visit our YouTube channels: Stetson Hatters, Stetson Athletics and, for live events, Hatter Vision.