The Rams came up empty in California.

The Colorado State women’s soccer team (1-3-1) dropped its final game of the weekend road trip 1-0 to UC Irvine (3-2-1) Sunday.

Coming into the match, the Rams were looking to get back into the win column after falling in their last two games.

The contest started off strong for the Rams as they were awarded a penalty kick 21 minutes into the match after a handball by a UCI defender in the box. Sophomore Mikaila Arao took the shot for the Rams, but couldn’t capitalize, sending it high right over the crossbar.

The Anteaters made the Rams pay for their miss. UCI went up 1-0 in the 30th minute when junior Tatyana Garrett slipped past the back line and put a shot home lower right, just out of reach for Rams keeper Jesse McGinley. Garrett’s goal would be the lone tally in the half.

When the second half began, CSU freshman Hannah Gerdin immediately picked up a yellow card in the 46th minute after sending a UCI defender to the ground. The physicality continued with a scary looking collision in the 52nd minute involving UCI freshman Noel Baham and CSU’s McGinley. They crashed when Baham was chasing down a long ball played into the box. McGinley would pop back up while Baham stayed down for a few minutes before eventually walking off on her own power.

Following the collision, CSU sophomore Gianna Marconi nearly put the Rams on the board in the 53rd minute. She made a brilliant run down the middle of the field and chipped the ball past diving UCI keeper Corey Tobin, but it went off the post.

CSU would put some more pressure on UCI late, but ultimately fell 1-0. The loss marks the third in a row for the Rams, with each defeat coming by a one-goal margin.

The Rams will be back in Fort Collins for their next game when they host Northwestern (4-1) Friday at 4:00 p.m. at the Lagoon Field.

Collegian Soccer Reporter Chad Deutschman can be reached by email at sports@collegian.com and on Twitter @ChadDeutschman.