Nathan Mollat / Daily Journal Skyline striker Fonda Joab holds off an American River player while battling for the ball during the Trojans’ 3-0 loss in the second round of the Northern California playoffs.

Tuesday, the third-seeded Trojans hosted No. 6 American River College in a second-round matchup. Unfortunately, not only did the Trojans’ undefeated string end, so did their season as the Beavers recorded a 3-0 win — the most goals Skyline allowed all season, as the Trojans allowed only five goals during the regular season.

“For a 3-0 score, I thought we played well at times,” said Skyline coach Kevin Corsiglia. “They (American River) were very quick, very active. This is the best team we’ve played all year.”

American River opened the game by applying tremendous pressure on the Skyline defense. The Beavers pressured the ball at every turn and Skyline’s first touch was a bit shaky over the first 20 minutes of the game.

It was during that time the Beavers struck. Midfielder Crystal Romero-Lopez sent a pass from the Beavers’ half of the field to a streaking Megan Looper, who split two defenders and drilled a shot into the upper right corner of the net in the 14th minute to give American River a 1-0 lead — only the second time this season the Trojans have trailed in a game.

The Trojans finally settled down following the goal and started pushing forward. Jennifer Alvarez proved dangerous along the left wing and Jenna Motylewski started to hold down the middle. Striker Fonda Joab found her stride and made a number of strong runs into the attacking third.

Unfortunately for the Trojans, they could not put much dangerous pressure on the American River goal. The Trojans managed only one shot on goal in the first half, and that was on a deflection off a corner kick late in the first half.

“They had five (defenders) back,” Corsiglia said. “It’s tough to beat five.”

Skyline came out flying in the second half, as the Trojans dominated possession so much so that the Beavers were forced to bunker in defensively. With so many defenders behind the ball, however, the Trojans struggled to get any dangerous chances inside 20 yards and a majority of Skyline’s shots came from the perimeter and American River goalkeeper Summer Ikeda was rarely tested.

With Skyline putting all the pressure on the Beavers’ defense, it was only a matter of time until they launched a counter attack. In the 52nd minute, they did exactly that. The Beavers won a 50-50 just over the midfield stripe and Jessica Saulter slotted a pass to Koryn Najera at the top of the penalty box. Najera slalomed around two Skyline defenders and beat goalkeeper Marie Torres to the upper left corner for a 2-0 American River advantage.

“That second goal put us away,” Corsiglia said.

The Trojans, to their credit, never stopped pushing. Their best scoring chance came a few minutes later when Joab won a ball about 35 yards from the Beavers’ goal and touched a diagonal pass left into space. Alvarez came running on and with a clear look at goal, cracked a shot — that sailed high over the top of the goal.

American River put the finishing touches on the win in the 73rd minute. Najera sent a free kick from about 45 yards into the Skyline penalty box. The ball deflected off a Skyline defender, right to the foot of Looper, who buried it.

While Corsiglia admitted the Trojans were disappointed and dejected. But that did not take away from the best season in school history. Saturday was the first time the Trojans hosted a playoff game and making it to Tuesday’s game meant the Trojans were in the final eight teams in Northern California.

“It’s hard to get upset when you go undefeated (in the regular season) and a conference championship,” Corsiglia said. “I told the girls, ‘You’re either going to win a state championship or lose a game.’

“The way I look at it, every year this program has gotten better. We’re doing things we haven’t done before. We got somewhere we’ve never been before. I think we solidified ourselves as a legitimate program.”