(SAN BERNARDINO, Calif.)
Austin Lavell gave PLNU Men's Soccer a dream start to its season opener at Cal State San Bernardino on Thursday afternoon.
But the Yotes struck back with a pair of first-half goals to take a halftime lead they would not relinquish on their way to a 4-2 victory over the Sea Lions.
"Obviously a disappointing way to start the season," Head Coach
Phil Wolf said. "But we were our own worst enemy in today's game as we were to blame for the majority of what went against us."
In the 21st minute, Lavell opened the scoring with a curled right-footed effort outside the box that ricocheted off a defender and sent the keeper the wrong way.
Point Loma's lead didn't last long though, as the hosts equalized less than two minutes later before adding another in the 39th minute to take a one-goal lead into the break.
A PLNU red card early in the second half and a 64th minute goal by the Yotes gave the Sea Lions a steeper hill to climb back into the game.
But the visitors managed to get one back through
Milan Diklic, who headed home an inch-perfect
Juan Salazar free kick to make it 3-2 with 25 minutes remaining.
However, CSUSB doubled its lead in the 78th minute to all but end Point Loma's comeback hopes.
PLNU (0-1 overall) has a quick turnaround before traveling to play No. 22 Cal Poly Pomona at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
"Even with all that went wrong today, there were some good moments in the game that we can build on," Wolf said. "We have to put this behind us quickly and get ready for another tough match on Saturday."
