BOX SCORE
SAN DIEGO - In the final home match of her career as a Sea Lion, senior
Lily Rainey saved the day, scoring in the last two minutes of double overtime, to help Point Loma Nazarene beat NAIA No. 21-ranked Vanguard 1-0 on Wednesday afternoon.
After 108 minutes of scoreless play, it looked like the Sea Lions were about to record their fourth 0-0 tie of the season. Due to an untimely foul by Vanguard, Rainey was able to hit a free kick. While the 40-yard boot landed directly into the hands of Lion goalkeeper Chelsea Lesniak, her fateful step behind the goal line meant that Rainey's kick was good, and would cost Vanguard the match.
“I'm thrilled but I'm still in shock about what happened,” said defender Rainey. “I'm just really happy especially since it's my last home game ever and I scored a goal as a defender.”
PLNU (5-4-3, 3-3-2 GSAC) outshot VUSC (7-5-3, 1-4-2 GSAC) 11 to seven. Point Loma's
Tiffany Kracy made six valuable saves in the box, while
Lindsay Bollar took two shots on goal, and Abby Elliot,
Leah Porter, and
Gina Schulte had a shot apiece.
“I'll take a win in any way,” said head coach
Tim Hall. “Vanguard's defense is really good so it was tough for our girls to have their way with them.”
Though it took almost two hours, in the end, the Sea Lions were able to finally have their way.
“I put my money on them when it's 0-0 toward the end of the game because the fight is there,” said Hall. “I am really proud of what they did today.”
The Sea Lions have slowly crawled out of the deep hole they dug themselves in with early conference losses. The win puts PLNU in fifth place and with two games to go there is a chance that the Green and Gold will find themselves hosting a playoff game.
Point Loma will travel to La Mirada on Saturday, Oct 23 to take on eighth-place Biola University at 5:00 pm.
