(SAN DIEGO) PLNU Men’s Soccer has come painfully close on multiple occasions to winning a first PacWest championship in program history. The Sea Lions hope that this is the year they can get over the hump.

“I think our guys are hungry to take a trophy finally, but obviously it’s a daunting ask,” PLNU Head Coach Phil Wolf said in reference to a highly competitive PacWest. “We don’t take it lightly, but it is something we’re thinking about and we would love to take that next step.”

In 2017 and 2021, Point Loma went into the final game of the PacWest regular season with a chance of winning the conference title, only to finish as runner-up both years by a combined three points behind first place.

The PacWest coaches are predicting a similarly tight title race this season, with an experienced PLNU squad picked in the preseason poll to finish second in the conference, just behind three-time defending champion Azusa Pacific.

“I’m really excited about this year’s team,” Wolf said. “Lots of quality throughout the group. This will be about the oldest team probably that I can have at a place like Point Loma that’s a fit to the university.

“Whenever you have an older group that you feel like you’re going to lose quite a bit off the team the following year – it’s a little bit of a rebuilding project after this year – all signs point to ‘Let’s go for it this year.’ There are other teams in our exact same situation because of the strength of our league, but we’re going to give it a go.”

The 2017 season, when Point Loma went unbeaten (11-0-2) in conference play and qualified for its first-ever NCAA Regional, started a string of four-straight seasons of double-digit wins for PLNU. The Sea Lions haven’t finished lower than fourth place in the conference standings since 2014.

“When I think about my team against the top teams, I feel a little bit better about where we’re at in comparison to them,” Wolf said. “I really like the group a lot – good team spirit, lots of quality everywhere.

“We’ll try to control games as much as we possibly can, regardless of who we’re playing. Whether we can or whether we can’t control the game, that’s what we’re going to try to do.”

Before the team begins official competition, the players have spent time with PLNU Director of Student Leadership and Outdoor Recreation AJ Pitkin, as they discuss the type of team they want to be.

“Brotherhood is something they’re wanting to emphasize, getting along on and off the field and becoming brothers,” Wolf said. “Something that AJ came up with is 100, 100, 100. 100% of the guys, 100% effort, 100% of the time. That’s been something they’ve been talking about.”

In addition to those core values, the program has another one of putting the team first.

“If they’re good about those three things – team first, brotherhood and then 100, 100, 100 – I think we’ll have a good team off of that.”

Roster

PLNU returns 11 players from last season and have added 13 new ones ahead of the new campaign, including some high-level transfers and incoming freshmen.

“We added some nice new players and then we have our returners as well, so it’s turned out to be a nice group,” Wolf said. “With the new group, we’ve improved our team. Our numbers are down overall on the team, but competition is high. Guys are much closer to each other. I’m excited for this group.”

Of the returners, four earned All-PacWest honors in 2021, including conference Player of the Year Parker Scalzo, who led the PacWest with nine goals scored.

“He’s a striker that’s good in front of goal but I think his number one quality is he can stretch a field,” Wolf said. “He can run, he’s quick, he’s fast.”

Midfielder Corey Lundeen, who like Scalzo was named to the All-PacWest First Team last year, was second among Sea Lions in 2021 with five goals scored.

“I think he’s gotten better and better each year,” Wolf said. “What I’ve seen out of him the past couple weeks is the best version of Corey that I’ve ever seen. Hopefully he can continue to progress, but Corey is a big player for us.

“His ability to filter balls to Parker, to filter balls to the wingers and to get on the end of stuff and score some goals playing between the lines is going to be huge for us. Corey has always been a guy who can really get around. He also has an ability to press, counter-press and defend. We’re going to have him do a lot for us but he’s up for it.”

Defender Matthew Abangan (First Team All-PacWest) and goalkeeper Seth Ketterer (Third Team All-PacWest) anchored a defense last season that kept six-straight clean sheets and maintained a shutout streak that spanned across eight games and 638 minutes.

“With Seth, you have one of the top two or three goalkeepers in the league that we can build a really strong foundation off of,” Wolf said. “We’re really happy with him and what he provides for our team.

“I would throw Matthew in with all our central defenders honestly. We have a lot to choose from, four really quality players. Matthew is an awesome passing central defender, which we need him to be. He really understands what we’re doing, so I’m excited about him and what he can bring but I’m also really excited about the other guys.”

One of those other defenders, Dalton Kinney, joined Abangan, Ketterer, Scalzo and Lundeen on the Preseason All-PacWest Team. Forward Austin Lavell, who led PLNU and ranked second in the PacWest with seven assists last season, also returns.

A player Wolf believes is not getting enough recognition is center defensive midfielder Townsend Meyer, who played and started in 15 matches last season after playing for three years at Notre Dame. He led the Sea Lions with 1317 minutes played last year.

“If you ask me to start with a player on our team, not only positionally but quality, I would start with Townsend Meyer,” Wolf said. “He’s probably our most complete player. He plays the 6, played three years in the ACC at Notre Dame, so he’s a top player who’s played in top games. We need him to carry the team a bit and take a lead role, but it starts with him and fans out to other players. He’s our best player and is a big part of this.”

Defender Milan Diklic, who redshirted for PLNU last season after transferring from Northeastern Junior College, is expected to feature prominently in the Sea Lions’ backline.

“I think Milan is a next-level player,” Wolf said. “He’s a great athlete, covers tons of ground. He has wonderful instincts as a player. He’ll feature as an outside back and as a central defender for us. He’s probably best in the central of defense but probably meets our needs as an outside defender better for us right now.”

Center back Milo Libby is another high-profile transfer, coming in from NCAA Division I Gonzaga University.

“Milo is a 6-foot-4 defender who is really good with his feet,” Wolf said. “That’s a pretty unique thing at this level, so we’re excited to see some really good performances coming from him.”

Midfielder Marlon Buck transfers in from Barry University of the Sunshine State Conference which Wolf labeled as the best conference in NCAA Division II.

“He’s played in some massive games over his career,” Wolf said. “We see him as an interior player, maybe as a striker depending on our needs in that particular moment. He’s a top player.”

Point Loma also added graduate transfers Samuel Tuscano and KC Smith from Westmont College, where the pair were All-Golden State Athletic Conference performers.

Wolf also highlighted incoming freshmen Oliver Padilla (defender/midfielder), Christopher Burgos Lara (forward) and Niko Kaczmarczyk (midfielder) as players who have impressed thus far and are expected to contribute significantly this season.

Schedule

Point Loma opens up its 2022 season with two home matches, against Cal Poly Pomona on Thursday (1 p.m.) and Cal State San Bernardino on Saturday (11:30 a.m.).

The Sea Lions will then hit the road for four-straight away matches against Cal State Dominguez Hills (Sep. 3), Cal State San Marcos (Sep. 10), Seattle Pacific (Sep. 15) and Western Washington (Sep. 17).

PLNU rounds out its non-conference schedule with two matches against conference opponents, home versus Concordia (Sep. 21) and away to Azusa Pacific (Sep. 24), before opening up PacWest play at home on Oct. 1 against Fresno Pacific.

“Our first nine games are absolutely brutal,” Wolf said. “If there’s a tougher nine games, I’d like to see it. If you go 6-3 in those games, you feel pretty good about it.”

Then after nine more conference games, PLNU hopes it can usurp the recent reign of Azusa Pacific atop the PacWest standings.

“Azusa has won three-in-a-row and without a doubt are the class of the league,” Wolf said. “We’re trying to get up in that range.”

Point Loma will hope to qualify for the postseason, with the NCAA Regionals set to begin on Nov. 10.

For PLNU’s full schedule, click HERE.