SACRAMENTO — Three mistakes by the defense proved costly for Ripon in its Sac-Joaquin Section Division V semifinal won by second-seeded Capital Christian 3-1 on Wednesday.

Korri Armbrust scored two goals for the Cougars (13-2-2), who face off with defending champion Amador in the final round Saturday starting at noon at Lincoln High of Stockton. Ripon had an 11-game winning streak snapped.

“We made three uncharacteristic mistakes that we haven’t made in a long time and those hurt us,” Ripon coach Jamie DeBruyn said. “It was a great game that came down to the mistakes.”

Armbrust helped set up the first goal of the game in the 14th minute. Her direct kick from about 30 yards out hit the crossbar, and Julia Linder was there to put it away.

“All of our players just watched while the ball went right to (Linder’s) feet,” DeBruyn said.

Ripon (19-6) answered 2 minutes later with Megan Harlan’s free kick, and the score remained tied at 1-1 by halftime.

Capital Christian regained the lead in the 54th minute. A Ripon defender lost control of the ball in the back line, allowing Maddie Brenton to dish it off to Armbrust for the go-ahead goal. 

The Indians loaded their forward line in the final minutes in a desperate attempt to force overtime, but that also led to a counter-attack from Capital Christian that iced it. The Ripon defense was able to recover in time to stop the initial attempt but cleared it right to Armbrust at the top of the 18-yard line. She trapped the ball, teed it up and drilled it to the back of the net.

Ripon otherwise played well enough to win but could not register goals on its opportunities. 

“We came up short of our goal of making it back to the section final, but we still had a very good season,” DeBruyn said.