AZUSA, Calif. - The Point Loma women's soccer team played the role of spoiler today, earning a 1-1 tie on the road against Azusa Pacific (Nov. 5).
 
The match was anticipated to be for the PacWest Championship and a place in the NCAA West Regional just over a week ago but with the Sea Lions (10-4-4, 8-3-2 PacWest) stumbling their last two matches in Hawaii they were forced to play spoiler against Cougars (11-3-4, 9-1-3 PacWest).
 
APU entered the match tied atop the PacWest standings with California Baptist with 29 points apiece. A win for Azusa Pacific would have claimed the title outright for the Cougars as they'd own the tiebreaker, but the Sea Lions would not go down that easy.
 
Kelsey Bushman put APU in front in the 27th minute on her fourth goal of the season. The Cougars kept the pressure on outshooting PLNU 5-0 in the first half, and 3-0 on shots on goal. Azusa Pacific even had the chance to go up by two goals on a penalty kick by Cara Scammon but she was stonewalled by the Sea Lions' Ariel Oriarte to keep the match at the half at 1-0.
 
That deficit did not intimidate this Point Loma team has been hardened in the fires of competition during their back-to-back PacWest Championships (2014 & 2015), and it weathered the storm from the Cougars until their opportunity arose. Their chance came in the 77th minute after Azusa Pacific committed a foul in the box to give PLNU a penalty kick. Freshman Sarah Steinhaus did not hesitate on the penalty kick and drilled the ball into the back of the net for her first career goal. The goal pushed the match into overtime tied at 1-1.
 
In the extra time, neither team could find its offensive rhythm as there was just one shot on goal in the final 20 minutes. The lone shot was saved by Oriarte for her fourth save of the match. APU's Sarah Klinkenberg had one save.
 
"It was a great match between two good teams going at it," said Point Loma head coach Tim Hall.
 
This was actually the first 'meaningless' match in Oriarte's four-year career. After playing her first 58 games of her career with some form of the playoffs always on the line, this was the first one that did not have postseason implications.
 
"We talked about playing for pride, playing hard and showing the character we have as student-athletes because this is the first time in four years the game has not had playoff implication to it," said Hall. "The girls did great today. I am very pleased to the way we responded to a very disappointing end to our Hawaii trip.
 
"It was an incredibly disappointing year for us in terms of results because we gave the season away," Hall added.
 
This was the final match in the careers of Rachel Witz, Cori Deason, Courtnie Marshall and Ariel Oriarte. These four student-athletes helped the Sea Lions go 48-21-6 over the past four seasons, which included back-to-back PacWest Championships. The women's soccer team is still the only Sea Lion squad to win a PacWest Championship.
 
"The seniors took on a role in our disappointment of leadership and care," Hall explained. "I was incredibly proud of this group. They will be missed. They helped Point Loma get established as a team that will compete for the PacWest Championship year after year."