(COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.) A late goal from
Zoe Crockett gave PLNU Women's Soccer a lifeline but it came a little too late for No. 9 PLNU Women's Soccer in a 2-1 defeat at UCCS on Thursday afternoon.
"Credit to UCCS, they are a great squad," Head Coach
Kristi Kiely said. "I thought we struggled to connect today and it impacted our ability to create a lot of quality chances. We created enough to win the game but couldn't capitalize."
The originally scheduled start time for the match was moved up a few hours because of expected thunderstorms, before the hosts spoiled Point Loma's first game of its Colorado trip with a goal in each half.
The Mountain Lions scored just before halftime, in the 43rd minute, to break the deadlock and then doubled their lead in the 70th minute, ending PLNU's two-game shutout streak.
Point Loma outshot UCCS 11-8 overall and 7-2 in the second half, as the Sea Lions tried to find a way back into the game.
Those efforts paid off at the 89:25 mark when Crockett found the back of the net for the first time in 2023.
Nicki Friedman neatly skipped away from her defender and slipped a through ball to Crockett, who did well with her first touch before calmly slotting a shot past the goalkeeper.
The Sea Lions then earned a corner kick in the final seconds but weren't able to get it off in time for one final chance at goal.
"We made some mistakes and they capitalized," Kiely said. "It was a good match and I trust we will learn from it and be ready to go on Saturday."
Point Loma (2-1-1 overall) concludes its Colorado trip on Saturday with a match at Metro State. Kickoff in Denver is scheduled for 6 p.m. MT / 5 p.m. PT.
