Sea Lions climb the rankings
Point Loma (12-4-0, 9-2-0 PacWest) is up to No. 7 in the latest NCAA West Regional rankings, which were released on Wednesday, Nov. 4. This is the third straight week the Sea Lions have been ranked among the West Region's top 10. PLNU was No. 8 in the initial poll, and fell to No. 9 last week before moving up two spots in this week's rankings. To view the complete NCAA Regional rankings click here.
 
The top six teams in the final rankings, which include the automatic qualifier from each of the three conferences in the West Region, will play in the NCAA West Regional on Nov. 12 and 14. The NCAA will announce the final six teams and their seeding during its Selection Show on Monday, Nov. 9 at 3:30 p.m. (PST) on NCAA.com.
 
This week
The Point Loma women's soccer team will close out its regular season with a pair of road matches in the Bay Area. The Sea Lions will open the trip against Dominican (CA) on Thursday, Nov. 5 at Noon. Point Loma will then face Holy Names on Saturday, Nov. 7 at 11:00 a.m.
 
Follow along
The PLNU women's soccer game will be available for viewing through live stats and live video at Dominican (CA). Live stats will be free of charge while the matches will be $8.00 on a pay-per-view basis. The match at Holy Names is available only via live stats, and that will be free of charge. To access both live stats and live video for these matches visit plnusealions.com/gameday.
 
PLNU's defense among the elite
PLNU ranks third in the NCAA Division II with a .312 goals against average. Point Loma has allowed just five goals in 16 matches this season. That has led to 11 shutouts for the Sea Lions, who rank eight in the country with a .688 shutout percentage.
 
A look at the Sea Lions
Point Loma (12-4-0, 9-2-0 PacWest) has run its winning streak to four straight matches and shutout streak to 386 consecutive minutes. The Sea Lions have outscored their opponents 8-0 during that winning streak and moved into a tie with Azusa Pacific for first place in the PacWest Conference standings with 27 points. Both APU and PLNU are playing Dominican and Holy Names this weekend.
 
Easton Kawawaki leads PLNU and is tied for 18th in the PacWest with four goals. She also leads the Sea Lions with nine points. Keagan Bolibol is tied for seventh in the PacWest with four assists, and Rachel Witz is tied for 13th with three. Goalkeeper Ariel Oriarte paces the PacWest and ranks fifth in the NCAA with a .312 goals against average. Her 11 shutouts on the season are five more than her nearest PacWest competitor. The junior is third in the PacWest with a .839 save percentage.
 
The PacWest race
Going into the weekend, Point Loma and Azusa Pacific (13-2-0, 9-2-0 PacWest) are tied for first in the PacWest standings with 27 points, followed by Concordia (9-3-3, 8-2-1 PacWest) in third place with 25 points. The winner of the conference will receive the league's automatic bid to the NCAA West Regional. If the teams were to tie, Point Loma has the tiebreaker over APU by virtue of their head-to-head win earlier this season, while Concordia over both PLNU and APU.
 
Kracy named PacWest Defender of the Week
Point Loma senior Tara Kracy was named the PacWest Conference Women's Soccer Defender of the Week for the week of Oct. 26-Nov. 1. Kracy anchored a Point Loma (12-4-0, 9-2-0 PacWest) defense that earned two more shutouts on the week, extending its winning streak to four games. The Sea Lions held Hawai'i Hilo and BYU-Hawaii to just two shots (none on goal) to extend their shutout streak to 386-consecutive minutes. Kracy is the second consecutive Sea Lion to earn PacWest Defender of the Week (Pearce).
 
A look at the Penguins
Dominican (CA) is 5-9-2 on the season and in seventh place in the PacWest Conference with a 5-5-1 record. The Penguins have gone 1-0-1 in their last two matches after dropping three straight in Hawaii. Mariah Meza and Lily Dubuc form one of the league's most potent offensive duos. Both have six goals and five assists on the season, and they are tied for second in the PacWest with 17 points. As a team, Dominican is averaging 1.38 goals per game, but allows 1.81 goals per game.
 
A look at the Hawks
Holy Names is 6-9-0 on the season and 4-7-0 in the PacWest. The Hawks will host APU on Thursday before playing PLNU on Saturday. HNU won its last contest 2-1 over Notre Dame de Namur. Holy Names has scored 1.27 goals per game, ranking just behind PLNU in the PacWest, and like Point Loma have really spread out their scoring as no Hawk has over three goals, and 10 different student-athletes have scored this season.