PLNU HOPING TO TAKE NEXT STEP IN 2022

(SAN DIEGO) All PLNU Women's Soccer has done since Kristi Kiely took over as Head Coach in 2018 is win.
 
Three-straight PacWest championships and NCAA Regional appearances. A PacWest record 34-match unbeaten streak in conference games.
 
But the Sea Lions aren't resting on their laurels, and instead are determined to take the next step in its progression as a program.
 
"For us expectations are always high, both internally and externally," Kiely said. "We've had some success in recent years and we're grateful for that but there's more we'd like to accomplish."
 
That includes reaching a first-ever NCAA Final Four.

“We talk a lot each year about what we want to do better,” Kiely said. “When we first got here in 2018 and looked at the Final Four teams, we recognized that those teams had a large goal differential. We’ve tried to follow that. That’s been the progression – score more goals, let fewer in.”

Kiely lauded the hard work her team has put in to achieve its goals but admits it will “take a little bit more of each thing” and that begins with the daily grind.

“Our goals are high but those come in day-to-day increments and that’s where our focus lies,” Kiely said. “We hope by the end that the accumulation of days leaves us to where we’d like to be in early December.”

Kiely, now entering her fifth year at PLNU, has established a culture centered around accountability and relationships.

“What a joy it’s been with this group of 29,” Kiely said. “I feel good about the cohesion of the group and the like-mindedness in terms of what we’re all striving for. The stories that we tell help us model that. When we’re asked about our success, our immediate responses are that we hold each other accountable.

“They enjoy whomever their sitting next to and will be in conversation and in relationship with that person. That matters to us. We know one another and we keep the expectations high on the field. Those have come with many years of practice and work.

To the players who have come before, we are grateful for what they have said and what this large group of new players gets to step into that’s been modeled before.”

Point Loma begins the 2022 season ranked No. 22 in the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Poll. The Sea Lions were also picked to win the PacWest, which would be a fourth time in-a-row, receiving nine of a possible 11 first-place votes.

Roster
Point Loma returns 17 players, including seven starters, and welcomes 12 new ones to the team this season.
 
All seven returning starters earned All-PacWest honors last year, with three being named to the Preseason All-PacWest Team. Fifth-year senior and two-time PacWest Defender of the Year Lauren O'Malley leads the group of returners.
 
"For me, Lauren is probably untouchable in terms of her presence, consistency, dependability and talent," Kiely said. "Her ability to do the job day-in and day-out, and to lead on top of that, is wonderful. We're fortunate enough to get to enjoy it for another year."
 
O'Malley will be partnered in defense by sophomore Emma Thrapp, who was also a First Team All-PacWest selection a season ago.
 
"They truly complement each other," Kiely said. "We understand there might be moments where other players need to step in and they'll be more than capable of that as well, but the pairing of Thrapp and Lauren is dynamic. With the amount of time we have the ball, their ability on the ball is great.
 
"Thrapp is a vocal leader and an organizer. When there's urgency, she's communicating that. Lauren is a bit more the type that will model, that's going to get in there and do the work and will organize and calm us down a little more. To have each one of those in a center back is a luxury and I recognize it's a luxury. We will use it to every bit of our advantage that we can."
 
The center back duo form half of what is an experienced backline, that also includes sophomore left back Naomi Ellis (Second Team All-PacWest) and sophomore right back Jordyn Rodriguez. PLNU's defense only conceded nine goals in 17 games last year and never allowed more than one goal in a single game.
 
"We're returning a backline that has lots and lots of experience," Kiely said. "Naomi provides an ability to attack and not get beat one v. one, which is great. Jordyn provides a different attacking presence and is brilliant one v. one as well. We're grateful to have a backline that's done what they've done."
 
Sophomore forward Alana Diaz (First Team All-PacWest) and junior forward Bethany Arabe (Third Team All-PacWest) are expected to lead PLNU's front line. Diaz, the team's third Preseason All-PacWest selection along with O'Malley and Thrapp, led the team with six goals in 2021.
 
"Alana and Bethany are brilliant on the ball, are brilliant movers and brilliant finishers," Kiely said. "Alana is a special player, both someone whom we can play to feet to and someone we can play in behind. A luxury that we haven't always had here. I feel the same way about Bethany. Her ability to be played through, her ability on the ball to go at players one v. one.
 
"Between Jillian Tubbs, Alison Pepper, Alyssa Ketcham and Alexa Morris, we have a great group of front players to choose from. They'll keep each other sharp because whoever is rising to the occasion and ready on the week will likely get the minutes. Who is producing will get the minutes and they all have an ability to."

In the midfield, the Sea Lions return a pair of Third Team All-PacWest selections in Abby Schmidt and Mara Sovde. Kiely labeled Sovde the orchestrator of the PLNU midfield.

“Abby is good in front of goal and provides an explosiveness, an ability to settle and keep the ball and make good decisions,” Kiely said of Schmidt who was second on the team with five goals last season. “She has a great presence.

“Mara obviously fits our system to a T. She came in here her very first day and has hardly put a foot wrong, in her decision-making, in her technique, in her determination to do what needs to be done in whatever position she’s in. She is who we play through. Everything runs through her.”

Olivia Shaw and Mackenzie Kimmel are expected to add a spark in the PLNU midfield. 

“We are very thrilled to have her back,” Kiely said of Kimmel, who previously played two seasons at NCAA Division I Air Force Academy. “She has an explosiveness and an energy in the game that she provides another level. We’re excited to see what she can do either in the middle or in a wide position.”

While the team returns a plethora of returning talent, Kiely is also pleased by what she has seen so far from her new players.

“From what we’ve seen so far in training, we sure do feel like most of them can contribute and likely challenge for significant minutes right away and that’s exciting,” Kiely said. “I appreciate their work and their stick-to-itiveness to work through and try out some of the new information they’ve been given.”

Of the team’s new players, one is a transfer in sophomore midfielder Nicki Friedman (San Francisco State).

“Nicki Friedman is making a case for herself,” Kiely said. “She’ll hunt and work to defend. She enjoys being on the ball, is crafty when she wants to be and is simple when she needs to be. I’m excited about her.”

Kiely also highlighted freshman midfielder Emma Rogers among the newcomers.

“We’re really excited about Emma Rogers and her ability, specifically on the ball,” Kiely said. “She’s two-footed, can strike the ball well. She can get us out. She has great vision and makes good decisions. Very mature for the young player that she is.”

Freshman midfielder Lily Paulson is expected to battle for minutes right away in the midfield or up top, while goalkeepers Julia Pinnell and Laine Moraes are competing with senior Rachel Fong for the starting role.

“That spot will be solidified over time,” Kiely said. “You have three competing for it now, who are putting in the work to do so and are also cheering each other on. We look forward to getting that solidified.”

Schedule

In hopes of taking that next step as a program, PLNU has put together a tough schedule to hopefully prepare the Sea Lions for a deep postseason run.

Point Loma opens up with a home match against Cal State San Marcos on Saturday at 2 p.m. The team then plays its first away game on Thursday at Cal Poly Pomona before returning home to take on perennial West Region powerhouse Western Washington on Sep. 6.

While on paper the Western Washington match is a highly motivating one, considering it is the team that has knocked Point Loma out of the postseason in each of its last two trips, Kiely wants her team to focus on the immediate game in front of them.

“Every game matters the same,” Kiely said. “The most important one is the next one. If we want to make it to a Final Four, we have to play Final Four opponents. We have that on our schedule this year. Are we excited about those games? Absolutely. The only game that matters to us though is the next one. Both are true.”

After five more non-conference games, PLNU kicks off its PacWest schedule on Oct. 1 against Fresno Pacific. The Sea Lions are scheduled to host Hawaii Hilo, with whom Point Loma shared the conference title with a season ago and received the two other first-place votes in the PacWest Preseason Poll, on Oct. 24.

“In the offseason there’s been a number of teams who’ve picked up some really good players. I think it’s going to be really competitive this year and that’s what we love for it to be,” Kiely said of the PacWest outlook this year. “We know there’s work to be done for us. We know that both our preseason and our conference season are going to be hard. We have our most challenging schedule yet, which is great. 

“Either way we’ll learn from it and ultimately that’s what we want to do. If we want to be playing in early December, or in December every year, there’s just learning you have to do to get there. This is a part of it. We’ve spent the last four years learning a lot and now we’ll learn more by having our hardest schedule.”

The NCAA Regionals begin on Nov. 10, with four postseason rounds separating the Sea Lions for the national semifinals, set for Dec. 1 in Seattle.

For PLNU’s full schedule, click HERE.