WICHITA, KS – Prairie State gave it a valiant effort but came up short in a 2-0 loss to No. 2 CCBC-Essex on Monday.

The Pioneers do not qualify for the national semifinal due to goal differential. CCBC-Essex won the group with a goal differential of plus one.

Prairie State played the match undermanned but gave it everything they had to hold off an explosive CCBC-Essex squad.

Essex took the lead in the 31^st minute on a shot that barely beat goalkeeper Torben Busack. Essex scored a second goal in the 59^th minute. Despite allowing the two goals, Busack was tremendous for the Pioneers with a season-high 12 saves.

Prairie State (10-2-1) needed one goal to keep its season alive with tiebreakers but was unable to push one to the back of the net.

The Pioneers won their first match of the tournament 2-1 over St. Charles. The win set a new bar for the program as it was the first time Prairie State won a national tournament match.