Skip To Main Content

PLNU Athletics

Scoreboard

OFFICIAL Site of Point Loma Sea Lions Athletics

Scoreboard Tab

donate button
NCCAA final

Women's Soccer Story by Jacob Roth

Sea Lions upset APU for NCCAA Regional title

Box Score

AZUSA, Calif. – Point Loma is headed to nationals after upsetting top-seeded Azusa Pacific, 2-0, on the road in the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) Women's Soccer West Regional Championship under the lights on Wednesday (Nov. 20).

Freshman Dottie Rhoten put the Sea Lions (11-7-1) on the board early, scoring her team-leading seventh goal of the season in the eighth minute. Then senior Leah Porter sealed the game in the 87th minute to send the PLNU to the NCCAA National Championships.

It was PLNU's second victory over APU (12-3-1) in under two weeks. On Nov. 9, the Sea Lions took down the Cougars 2-0 at home in each squad's final regular season match.

With the win, the Sea Lions improved to 4-1-1 against the Cougars over the past four seasons. In the first round of last year's NCCAA West Regional Playoffs, Point Loma defeated APU after a 12-round shootout before a heartbreaking loss to Cal Baptist in the 2012 West Regional Final.

This time, the Sea Lions would not be denied a trip to Florida. Point Loma got things going early, when Rhoten knocked in a cross from sophomore Sydney Dreves to give the team a 1-0 lead.

The score remained the same until three minutes left to play. The Cougars could not clear the ball out of the box, and Porter punched in the dagger to lock up the win.

Porter, primarily a defender, scored her second career goal in as many games — the first coming Nov. 16 during the Sea Lions' 4-0 win over Bethesda in the West Regional first round.

Goalkeeper Ariel Oriarte upped her shutout streak to three consecutive games in just her fourth career start. And unlike the last matchup against APU that saw the Cougars fire exactly zero shots on goal, the freshman was able to showcase her skills, notching five saves in the win.

The Sea Lions fired just seven shots throughout the match, though six of them were on frame. Five of APU's 17 shots were on target.

Point Loma will have a couple of weeks to prepare for the NCCAA National Championships, which will run form Dec. 2-7 in Kissimmee, Fla.
Print Friendly Version