SAN DIEGO - Easton Kawawaki gave the Point Loma women's soccer team an early lead in the eighth minute and the Sea Lions made it stand up for a 1-0 victory over Hawaii Hilo on Tuesday, Oct. 27.
 
PLNU improved to 11-4-0, and a tie by Concordia (CA) against BYU-Hawaii, moved the Sea Lions into first place in the PacWest standings with 24 points (8-2-0 PacWest). The loss dropped UHH to 4-6-3 and to 3-6-0 in the PacWest.
 
The Sea Lions went on the attack right from the first whistle, working the ball down into the Vulcans' zone. On their third trip into UHH area, Rachel Witz found Kaiti Freeberg who went right back to Witz, and she sent a perfect pass to Kawawaki inside the box. Kawawaki collected the ball, spun and fired shot low and into the right corner of the net to put PLNU up 1-0.
 
With the lead, PLNU continued to dominate the game statistically but never could put the game away. The Sea Lions outshot the Vulcans 25-1 in the game, including 9-0 on shots on goal, but still had to sweat it out until the final buzzer.
 
"The good part of the day was getting those three points," explained Point Loma head coach Tim Hall, "but once that ball went in the net our team had some decisions to make about whether we wanted to play well today. We had moments that we played well, but there was not that edge to put a team away."
 
Despite the lack of offense, Point Loma was still able to put forth a quality defensive effort that earned the Sea Lions their third straight shutout, and fifth in six matches. Ariel Oriarte did not have to make a save en route to earning her 10th shutout of the season.  Tiani Teanio had eight saves for the Vulcans.
 
"I'm happy with the win, but myself and the women are disappointed in our performance today," added Hall. "Mentally we played very well to get that goal but it was that opposite of that for the next 15-20 minutes and we just didn't play good soccer at all. It was all between the ears. We didn't play well but we did what we needed to win, and we are fortunate to still be in the (PacWest race)."
 
The Sea Lions are currently atop the PacWest standings with 24 points. They lead Concordia (CA) by two points and Azusa Pacific by three. Both CUI and APU have played one less match than the Sea Lions.
 
PLNU will welcome in BYU-Hawaii on Saturday, Oct. 31 at 11:30 a.m. to close out its 2015 home schedule. This match will be a Senior Day present by Miguel's Cocina for both the men's and women's soccer teams.  
 
"If we play like we did today against BYU-Hawaii we will lose," said Hall. "I think we will come out Saturday. We have played three matches in six days, and I'm not giving them excuses but we have been running on fumes today. We did enough to win today. We now have a few days to get retanked and refocused."