SANTA CRUZ, Calif.  Whitman's Sofia Ellington scored a first-half equalizer and Allie Seracuse came up with six saves Sunday but host UC Santa Cruz walked off with the overtime win at Lower East Field, claiming a 2-1 non-conference women's soccer victory over the Blues in the finale of the three-day UC Santa Cruz Slugfest.

The loss drops Whitman to 0-2 while UCSC evens its record at 1-1.

The Banana Slugs came out the aggressor, scoring less than seven minutes into the contest on a 25-yard shot by Julianna Hoeflich that snuck past Blues starting goalkeeper Bryanna Schreiber.

Both teams registered a shot over the next 17 minutes but it wasn't until the early moments of the 25th minute that one of those shots made it on frame.

Ellington worked an attacking zone defensive mark into a steal, and found herself in close upon gaining possession where she poked in an easy tap-in inside the right post to draw the Blues even at 1-1.

Of the next four shots in the remainder of the half, three were blocked by defenders and one sailed wide to keep the score deadlocked at the break.

Seracuse, who took over between the pipes coming out of the intermission, found herself busy almost right from the start of the second half, picking up her first save less than four minutes in and a second one 10 minutes later.

Santa Cruz was able to generate pressure across most of the second half, limiting Whitman's scoring opportunities while pushing Seracuse to keep the net clean.

The sophomore enjoyed the help from a post at the 65:18 mark but had to make the save herself 20 seconds later. She added saves in the 69th, 72nd and 88th, allowing the Blues to extend the contest into overtime.

Whitman challenged for the initial shot in extra time but Ellington's shot was blocked at the 94:07 mark to erase the scoring chance.

A UCSC corner kick in the 97th resulted in a yellow card on a hard-charging Hoeflich, whose contact with Seracuse drew the ire of the referee.

One minute later, though, Hoeflich cleanly played a header served into the box by teammate Cayce Shaw and this time found space behind Seracuse for the game winner.

The Blues are in action next at the Whit Classic in Spokane, Washington, where they will take on Carroll College and Corban University on Sept. 9-10, respectively, for a pair of non-conference games.