(FRESNO, Calif.) PLNU Women's Soccer has reclaimed its throne.
With a 5-1 win at Fresno Pacific on Saturday night, No. 13 PLNU Women's Soccer clinched a fourth PacWest title in five years and retook its spot atop the conference standings after finishing second a season ago.
"I'm so proud of this group," Head Coach
Kristi Kiely said. "We've remained steady even in some of the harder moments of this season. They are resilient, tough and compete in all ways.
"We also recognize this didn't happen overnight. We've put in faithful and diligent work over many years and that work isn't always easy. Sometimes you lose, sometimes you pick up injuries, sometimes it doesn't work out and you have to keep at it and this group has done just that. They keep at it."
Point Loma entered the year on a mission to finish first in the PacWest again, but after just four conference games, that prospect seemed unlikely after the Sea Lions dropped to 2-2 in PacWest play.
However, PLNU rallied off six-straight wins to close out its conference slate and claim the outright title.
After Concordia beat Westmont earlier on Saturday to at least momentarily move CUI back atop the standings, Point Loma knew it needed a win in order to claim another conference crown.
The Sea Lions got off to a fast start with two first-half goals in the ninth and 16th minutes, as
Alana Diaz opened the scoring before turning provider on
Mackenzie Kimmel's goal.
Nicki Friedman sent Diaz through at goal, with the keeper saving Diaz' first effort but there was nothing she could do to block the follow-up, as Diaz fired PLNU into an early lead.
Kimmel doubled that advantage not long afterward, playing a combination at the top of the box with Diaz before finishing.
Naomi Ellis then made it 3-0 early in the second half with a long-range effort in the 53rd before
Nikki Ross extended her team-lead for goals with her seventh of the season in the 65th.
Diaz was credited with another assist after beating her defender and dropping a ball back to Ross to find the back of the net.
Zoe Crockett then made it five different goalscorers in the 71st after sidestepping her defender and finishing over the goalkeeper's head.
FPU got on the scoreboard with just two seconds remaining but that late goal allowed did nothing to temper the excitement of PLNU after winning by a final margin of 5-1.
"Tonight was a group effort," Kiely said. "Between a wide variety of goal scorers and different people making contributions, it was good work by the entire group. Getting an early goal is always helpful and allows us to settle in. Even though we got early goals, it wasn't our best start.
"I was glad to see us play better in the second half. Each of the goals were tremendous: good combinations, good individual efforts and good finishing. We took our chances well tonight."
Point Loma (12-3-1 overall, 8-2 PacWest) was ranked No. 2 in this week's official regional rankings and will await to hear its postseason fate when it's announced on Monday afternoon during the NCAA Selection Show at 3:30 p.m.
"It's been a goal of this particular group of seniors to secure a conference title and host the first round," Kiely said of the upcoming NCAA West Regional. "They took care of the title and will find out on Monday if we host.
"I'm proud to be a part of this program and proud of what we've accomplished in six years. We continue to keep our goals high and we will work towards those this week."
