(BELLINGHAM, Wash.) It took splitting hairs to determine whether Point Loma or Western Washington would earn the second seed in the NCAA Women's Soccer West Regional and the right to host on their home field.
 
Saturday's NCAA Second Round matchup showed how little separates the two teams.
 
Both teams took 11 shots and put six on target, with PLNU holding a slight 5-4 advantage in corner kicks and WWU having a slight edge in possession, 51% - 49%.
 
But Western Washington held the advantage in the most important statistical category – goals scored.
 
The second-seeded Vikings found the back of the net early in the second half, which proved to be the difference in a game of the finest margins, as WWU eliminated third-seeded PLNU from the NCAA West Regional for the third-straight season by a 1-0 scoreline.
 
"Today was the first time in a couple weeks that I felt like we put together a really solid performance," Head Coach Kristi Kiely said. "I thought we had a lot of really good opportunities that we just couldn't capitalize on."
 
Point Loma had several chances to score in the first half, with Mackenzie Kimmel forcing a tip save over the crossbar just 10 minutes in.
 
Mara Sovde, who scored the game-winning goal in Thursday's First Round win over Sonoma State, played a brilliant diagonal through ball to Alison Pepper on the right wing. Pepper sent a dangerous cross into the penalty area but no Sea Lion was able to get on the end of it.
 
Pepper then got in behind the defense again, but her lasered shot from a tight angle was saved.
 
Zoe Crockett latched onto a loose ball in the box, only for her shot to be blocked, before Alyssa Ketcham's cross somehow flashed across the face of goal without being turned in.
 
After a scoreless opening 45 minutes, the Vikings broke the deadlock just three-and-a-half minutes into the second half after a cross was flicked on to the back post to be knocked home.
 
"We kind of fell asleep for a moment and left a couple people free in the box," Kiely said. "They jumped on their opportunity. That was the nature of it tonight for us."
 
PLNU had over 40 minutes to find an equalizer, which it nearly did on a couple occasions.
 
After goalkeeper Julia Pinnell made a stunning one-versus-one save to keep her team's deficit at one, Point Loma continued to send numbers forward in search of a tying goal.
 
Center back Lauren O'Malley looked like she was going to score after Crockett pulled a ball back to her around the penalty spot, but was denied by a stellar block from a Viking defender.
 
Naomi Ellis' long throw was then flicked on by Crockett to Lily Paulson, whose goal-bound effort was deflected over the crossbar but no corner kick was given.
 
"I thought we continued to look fairly sharp," Kiely said of her team's response to going a goal down. "I thought we chased well, as well as I think we have in this moment that we've been a part of the past three years. I thought it was the best chasing we've done."
 
Ultimately though, Western Washington kept Point Loma from finding the net, as the Vikings advanced to their seventh-straight NCAA West Regional final.
 
"Obviously, you don't want to go down, but we knew we really needed to not go down," Kiely said with her team having played on Thursday while WWU had a first-round bye. "I think that stung a bit and put us in a spot we didn't want to be in."
 
Despite the loss, Kiely expressed pride for how her team handled adversity all season long.
 
"I don't think people from the outside knew the whole story of our group this year," Kiely said. "The amount of injuries we had, the setbacks and the starters from last year that played parts of this season or none at all. This group of women rallied and were in a spot where we were thinking about hosting the regional.
 
"We experienced loss together. We experienced new life together. We wrestled with and battled through injury, a number of just unfortunate things that have happened. All that to say, I'm proud of the group to do what it did this year through a lot of adversity."
 
The loss brings to an end the remarkable career of O'Malley, who made history this year as the first three-time PacWest Defender of the Year and five-time All-PacWest selection.
 
"Lauren had an incredible year and was incredible again tonight," Kiely said. "Her leadership will be missed, but it will outlive her in so many ways for years to come because that's what she's done."
 
Point Loma finishes the season with a 13-3-4 overall record after reaching the NCAA West Regional Second Round for the fourth-straight full season.