Skip To Main Content

PLNU Athletics

Scoreboard

OFFICIAL Site of Point Loma Sea Lions Athletics

Scoreboard Tab

donate button

Women's Soccer Advance to Face Vanguard in Tournament Finals

Women's Soccer GSAC Semifinals at APU

Sea Lions Stun APU in GSAC Semifinal

Freshman keeper Tiffany Kracy saved two penalty kicks to boost the fourth-seed Sea Lions over No. 1 seed Azusa Pacific in the GSAC Tournament semifinals on Friday. The match was knotted 1-1 after two overtimes before going into a penalty kick shootout. PLNU came out on top, 3-1 in the shootout and will advance to the finals at Vanguard.

PLNU has never beaten the nationally third-ranked Cougars before, managing a draw just once since the two teams started competing against each other in 1999. The Sea Lions came in ranked No. 14 and will play third-seed Vanguard (8) at 2:00 pm next Friday. VUSC, like APU, defeated PLNU 1-0 during the regular season. The Lions upset California Baptist 2-1 in the other semifinal match of the day.

The Sea Lions are now nearly guaranteed an at-large bid to the NAIA Nationals. However, if PLNU defeats Vanguard, the team will win the GSAC Tournament title and earn an automatic berth to compete at nationals for a third time (2006, 07).

On their heels for much of the game, the Sea Lions (13-4-2) took only six shots, four on goal, to 19 and 12, respectively from the Cougars (14-3-1) during the semifinal tilt. In addition, PLNU took only one corner kick to APU's 11.

Neither side was able to find pay dirt through the first half. But just four minutes into the second stanza, Azusa finally got a ball past Kracy. Marissa Ranberger fed Lauren Lane to make it 1-0.

The Sea Lions had a new reason to score. They had to catch up to stay alive.

“Instead of falling apart they started fighting,” PLNU head coach Tim Hall said. “We had an open net. Lauren Hernandez crossed it perfectly and Erica Wessels finished it. It was beautifully executed.”

PLNU's goal came in the 57th minute. Despite a barrage of shots from APU, when regulation was ended, the match was tied at 1-1.

The goalies were the stars of the overtime periods. Kracy had two saves in the first and one in the second, while APU's Michelle Weiland had two saves in the second. The deadlock continued, and the keepers had to face the kickers in penalty kicks.

“We wanted to win, but we wanted to get to PKs because we all had faith in Tiffany,” said PLNU senior Kari Moore. “She's a stud.”

Lauren Hernandez, Tommie Graham and Wessels found the mark for the Sea Lions with only Alex Fuller's attempt going wide. The Cougars sent four players to take a shot and only Katie Rorabaugh was able to find the net. One shot went wide and PLNU's freshman keeper came through, turning back two attempts.

“When you're coming up to take a kick and you see a girl in there that's that athletic and that tall, the net looks small. She was the MVP big time,” Hall said. "It was also huge that our girls finished."
 
The win will send the Sea Lions to the GSAC finals, which is owed largely to Kracy for her 11 saves (the third most in PLNU history) and marks the farthest the team has advanced in the GSAC or regional tournaments.

“It was a big victory. Especially for the seniors, playing for all those girls in the past who were on their teams,” said Hall. “We're excited to go to Vanguard, because they beat us in overtime with one minute on the clock [earlier this season].”

(note: Friday's story mention that PLNU had beaten APU once before. This was inaccurate. A closer look at the records showed that the Sea Lions had only managed a 0-0 draw with APU in 2004)
Print Friendly Version