SAN DIEGO - The Point Loma women's soccer team was left shaking their heads after their 2-1 loss to Seattle Pacific in overtime.
 
The match began with Seattle Pacific suiting up only 10 field players, but the Falcons were able to get the first goal to take the lead in the 14th minute. The Sea Lions found the equalizer in the 32nd minute when Alison Pepper was able to head in her first career goal on a corner kick from Abbi Swanson.
 
The score would remain locked at 1-1 through halftime and the end of regulation. Overtime began with PLNU having possession for over three minutes deep in SPU's area, but they were unable to get the game-winning goal.
 
After Seattle Pacific thwarted that offensive attack from the Sea Lions, it went on the counter. Sophia Chilczuk found space on the left side and worked her way into the box for a shot. She fired with her right foot from 14 yards out, and the shot hit the post and deflected back towards the top of the goal box. Claire Neder stepped in front of the deflection and headed it back towards the net. The Sea Lion defenders tried to knock the header away, but it went into the back of the net for the game-winning goal.
 
Team Records
Point Loma (2-2-0, 0-0-0 PacWest), Seattle Pacific (2-3-0, 0-0-0 GNAC)
 
Words from Coach Kiely
On Seattle Pacific: "SPU has a lot of really good players who play well off each other and are committed to the system. They do a really good job of playing the way they want to play."
 
On the lessons from the loss: "We did a pretty good job for a large portion of that game to take away the things that SPU wanted to do. For good portions of the game we had the ball in areas we want the ball, but we were unable to finish it. Execution in the final layer of the game was just not there for us today."
 
On positives from the game: "We find progress in getting a few people back from injury, and seeing them have some quality minutes. We find progress in continuing to create a lot of good opportunities. We find progress in the things we have been working on and doing those well. But we also have to learn, and there is a lot to learn from this. This was a very good opponent, so I feel a step closer to being ready for conference after today."
 
On hosting the four-team tournament: "First off I want to say 'thank you' to our staff. They have been tremendous in making this happen. It is fun to get a lot of teams together. I enjoy the coaches on the other teams. It is fun to sit and chat and talk about our region. Our region needs more credibility for the quality it is. There is a lot of value to play teams in the region that are located a long ways away. We want to set ourselves up to have an opportunity to get to the NCAA Regional even if we don't win our conference."

On Saturday's match: "We are looking forward to Saturday. We will sit on this a little bit, learn what we can, and then prep and get ready for a different opponent in Northwest Nazarene on Saturday. It is so nice to play someone different than the teams we always see."
 
Scoring Summary
13:17 - SPU GOAL: Sierra Smith (Ava Giovanola) [SPU 1, PLNU 0]
31:29 - PLNU GOAL: Alison Pepper (Abbi Swanson) [SPU 1, PLNU 1]
96:23 - SPU GOAL: Claire Neder (none) [SPU 2, PLNU 1]
 
News and Notes
> The Sea Lions lost just once at home all last season (twice this year)
> Point Loma has never lost back-to-back matches under coach Kiely
> PLNU has allowed five goals this season after giving up just four in the regular season in 2018
> Point Loma's last OT loss was against another GNAC team in the 2018 season opener (WWU)
 
Up Next
The Point Loma women's soccer team will be back in action on Saturday, Sept. 21 when they host Northwest Nazarene at 1:30 p.m.