(SAN DIEGO) After debuting at No. 8 in the first NCAA Super Region 4 rankings released on Wednesday, PLNU Men's Soccer took another step toward the postseason with a 3-0 victory over Academy of Art on Thursday afternoon.
"It's obviously a little bit of a tricky game coming off of a pretty emotional and a pretty big game on Monday, but I think it was a good performance from beginning to end and pretty solid all across," Head Coach
Phil Wolf said. "We're excited to get the three points."
Milo Libby gave the Sea Lions an early lead in the 11th minute after a short corner routine from
Juan Salazar and
Niko Kaczmarczyk. A quick one-two between the pair gave Salazar a better angle to whip in a pinpoint cross to the back post for Libby to head home.
Salazar then doubled PLNU's lead just four minutes later, making it two-straight games that he's both scored and assisted.
Kupa'a Fernandez latched onto a loose ball in the midfield before slipping Salazar through at goal. The Medellin, Colombia native then calmly rounded the goalkeeper before finishing with his right foot.
"The longer games go without goals, more things can happen that aren't great," Wolf said. "Taking those really early was massive."
After taking a two-goal lead into the break,
Marlon Buck thought he scored in the second half but the goal was ruled out for offsides.
It didn't take much longer for the Sea Lions to add a third, however, with Salazar pouncing on a defensive mistake to put the hosts up by three in the 75th.
Austin Lavell and Salazar were then on a breakaway but Lavell was taken down by the last defender, drawing a red card on the Urban Knights.
Salazar then came close to registering a second assist, when his cross was cleverly dummied by
Christopher Burgos Lara, freeing up
Felix Calero at the back post. Calero's shot was saved out to
Ryan Doyle outside the box, whose missile of a shot just sailed over the crossbar.
But PLNU's three goals were more than enough to ensure a fifth-straight win for the Sea Lions, who moved into sole possession of first place in the PacWest standings after a second-consecutive shutout.
"You either kill that game with possession or you kill that game with a third goal," Wolf said. "We killed it with possession. Yeah, I would've liked to create a few more chances out of our possession, but I'm also okay at 2-nil having the ball. It was nice to get that third goal and put the game away."
Point Loma (11-4 overall, 7-1 PacWest) now turns its attention to a highly-touted matchup with Westmont (6-6-2, 6-1) at home on Wednesday.
With a win against the second-placed Warriors, PLNU would clinch its first PacWest title in program history, but any other result would leave the trophy in the balance going into the final game of the regular season.
"After the Dominican game, the talk was to get the Academy of Art game and then it's a final," Wolf said of the upcoming Westmont game. "That's how we're viewing it. Obviously, it's not a conference tournament, but if we win it, we put it away.
"We're viewing that game as a final. I don't think it even matters what Westmont does against Dominican on Saturday. It's still a final, so we're super excited to be hosting it. We'll see what we can do."
Kickoff on Wednesday, which is Senior Day for the Sea Lions, is scheduled for noon.
