(SAN DIEGO) PLNU Men's Soccer ran rampant in the second half, with
Felix Calero's hat trick leading a six-goal second period to lead Point Loma over Dominican on Monday afternoon.
"I would have never imagined it," PLNU Head Coach
Phil Wolf said on his team's second half. "This team can break out at any point and that was obviously a breakout game for us, for sure.
"We were tight at the back and then scored some fantastic goals today. I'm really proud of them."
Juan Salazar opened up the scoring with a free kick in the 54th just outside the right corner of the 18-yard box, going around the wall and catching the opposing goalkeeper cheating.
"That was the first game he didn't start all year but his attitude was right," Wolf said. "His intensity was right, comes in and gets his reward. I'm super proud of him."
He then turned provider less than a minute later on Calero's first goal, surging on the dribble from his own half of the field before slipping Calero through at goal to finish first time with his right foot.
Calero quickly added his second with a flick header off
Niko Kaczmarczyk's corner kick in the 60th minute.
Point Loma then scored three more in the final eight minutes to put an emphatic ending on an important victory in the PacWest title race.
Zachary Mercieca came off the bench to score twice in the 83rd and 87th minutes.
Milan Diklic won the ball back before finding Calero, whose left-footed effort was swatted away but only into the path of Mercieca to pass into an open net.
Mercieca then added a second less than four minutes after his first, cutting to his right before sneaking a right-footed blast inside the far left post after Kaczmarczyk's clever first-time pass out of the air.
"He's a handful," Wolf said of Mercieca. "Hs pace is unreal and he has a knack to score goals. He has a bright future ahead of him."
Calero then would not be denied his hat trick with just 75 seconds remaining, getting a sliding foot to poke in
Christopher Burgos Lara's cross for PLNU's first first hat trick since
Parker Scalzo and David Achaerandio both tallied one on Oct. 28, 2019 against Chaminade.
"Felix is a player," Wolf said. "Obviously he got to some great spots and took his chances."
The second-half onslaught was made possible because of a tremendous diving one-handed save from goalkeeper
Finn Simmersbach, who made four saves in the shutout, and a
Milo Libby save off the goal line not long after halftime with the game still scoreless.
"The game is such a tight game and can swing at any moment," Wolf said. "Goals change games and obviously we took the first. From there, it opened up for us."
Point Loma (10-4 overall, 6-1 PacWest) moves five points clear of Dominican (6-5-3, 4-2-1) in the conference standings and is tied with Westmont (6-6-2, 6-1), although the Warriors are unable to earn the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA West Regional because of its transition from the NAIA to the NCAA. Hawai'i Hilo (8-6, 5-3) lurks three points back of the top of the standings having played one more conference game.
The Sea Lions return to PLNU Soccer Field on Thursday to take on Academy of Art at 1 p.m.
