OAKLAND, Calif. - Cori Deason scored the game-winning goal with 33 seconds left to send the Point Loma women's soccer team to its second straight PacWest Conference Championship. The No. 7 regionally ranked Sea Lions struggled all day to find the net and the match looked like it was heading to overtime but senior Tara Kracy made a great pass over the top to Deason, who got 1v1 with the goalkeeper and beat her for the score, to give PLNU the 2-1 victory over Holy Names (Nov. 7).
 
The victory completes the pursuit of a second straight PacWest Conference championship by the Sea Lions (14-4-0, 11-2-0 PacWest). They tied for first place in the PacWest standings with Azusa Pacific with 33 points, but by virtue of their head-to-head victory over the Cougars the Sea Lions are the 2015 PacWest Conference Champions. PLNU also claimed the league's automatic qualifier to the NCAA West Regional, which will take place next weekend. HNU ends its season at 6-11-0 and 4-9-0 in the PacWest.
 
Nothing was easy during the match for the Sea Lions. They entered the game knowing the conference championship was on the line, and it seemed to make them play tight, especially in the first half. PLNU could not find the net and was not even getting shots, then all of a sudden the unexpected happened as Holy Names notched a goal right before the half to go up 1-0. This goal broke the Sea Lions' streak of 513 consecutive scoreless minutes and five straight matches with a shutout. However, PLNU did not dwell on the deficit long.
 
"The first half was the worst half of soccer we have played all year," said PLNU head coach Tim Hall. "There were a lot of nerves going on with players, coaches and the fans. In the first 10 minutes of the match I knew we were in for a fight today. I give Holy Names a lot of credit. They are much better than their record shows."
 
Right after halftime, Morgan Pearce delivered the equalizer on header off a corner kick from Kaiti Freeberg and touch pass from Tara Kracy. Pearce squared the ball up and headed it in for her second game-winning goal in the past two weeks.
 
The score remained tied late into the second half. Despite Point Loma outshooting the Hawks 18-0, they simply could not find the net. That was until just a few ticks remained in regulation when Kracy came through with the lead pass to Deason, and the junior forward made the shot the Sea Lions had been searching for all match, and send them to the PacWest championship and the 2015 NCAA West Regional.
 
"I am proud of the grit, the heart and the fight the women showed, it was phenomenal," said Hall. "We don't make it easy on ourselves and sometimes we are our own worst enemy and biggest competitor, but winning games like that do strengthen you.
 
"To (win the PacWest title) again was just a mountain," added Hall. "The girls get credit for giving themselves the opportunity to play for the championship in that game today. We had some help along the way this year, compared to last year when we won each game. It is just so hard to go through any conference. I am really proud of them to be able to do that again. Sometimes the journey to the destination is not scripted the way you'd expect, but we got there and I am very proud of every one of them for that."
 
Ariel Oriarte had her shutout streak broken but still finishes the season as the PacWest leader with 12 shutouts in 18 matches. She made one save in the game today to pick up the victory. HNU used a pair of goalkeepers which combined for six saves in the contest.
 
Point Loma will wait until the NCAA Selection Show on Monday, Nov. 9 at 3:30 p.m., to see where it will play in the first two rounds of the NCAA West Regional. The PLNU women's soccer team will gather in the ARC on the PLNU campus to watch the NCAA Selection Show on Monday, and all PLNU student, parents, fans, faculty/staff members, etc., are invited to attend.
 
"We are just going to let them enjoy tonight and tomorrow," Hall added. "We told them to heal up and start getting their minds ready for this new season.
 
"We really believe that every team we play we can complete with," he continued. "We believe we belong on the field with every team, so we are excited to go in to the playoffs because those games are such a coin flip. On any given day any team in the top half of the region can beat anyone else. We are getting ready to go to the playoffs knowing we belong there."