FREDERICKSBURG, VA - UC Santa Cruz had a halftime lead against the No. 24 team in the country, but couldn't pull off a second consecutive overtime win in a 2-1 loss to Christopher Newport in the Coast-To-Coast semifinal.
The Banana Slugs had their four-game win streak end and finish their season 7-10-2. CNU, the tournament's top seed, improves to 9-4-2 and advanced to Saturday's final.
The Banana Slugs played strong defensively in the first half after playing 100 minutes the day before. With under 30 seconds until halftime, Christian Locatelli took a pass from Luca Bravo and let loose a rocket outside the box that hit the back of the net to give UC Santa Cruz a 1-0 lead. It was Locatelli's first career goal.

The lead didn't last long as the Captains put in a rebound 1:15 into the second half to tie it. Cole Simes almost got the lead back in the 60th minute, but his header was saved by CNU keeper Gabe Barros. The Captains had three corner kicks in succession with under ten minutes left but none of their shots found the target. Simes had the last chance for UC Santa Cruz in the 88th minute, but his shot from outside the box went wide right.
In overtime, goalie Wolf Schermerhorn had a pair of saves early, and then Tanner Boyea almost ended it for the Banana Slugs but his shot was pushed out for a corner kick.
The exciting game ended with 2:56 left when a goalmouth scramble was knocked in to give the Captains the win.
CNU had a 16-9 shot advantage in the game. Schermerhorn finished with four saves. Defenders Will Barba and Max Beldner were named to the All-Tournament team.