(SAN DIEGO) Five different players scored for PLNU Women's Soccer as the Sea Lions closed out their non-conference schedule with a resounding 5-0 victory over Cal State Dominguez Hills on Monday afternoon.
"We scored some good goals, so I'm proud of the efforts in that way," Head Coach
Kristi Kiely said. "That's something we've been focused on. We create a lot of good opportunities and we need to take advantage of them. Today I thought we did."
After creating several quality chances, Point Loma finally broke the deadlock in the closing seconds of the first half when
Emma Thrapp curled a free kick into the top left corner of the net.
Zoe Crockett flicked a header over a Toros defender and was brought down just outside the box, drawing a yellow card that stopped the clock with only 10 seconds left in the first half.
Thrapp then punished the visitors with her team-leading third goal of the season and the second coming via a direct free kick.
"Somebody had to [step up]," Kiely said of the importance of Thrapp's tie-breaking goal just before halftime. "We just needed somebody to put it in the back of the net. We had opportunity after opportunity, so it was very important.
"Credit to Zoe for drawing the foul and doing the hard work on that one, and Thrapp had a good finish."
From there the floodgates were opened, with PLNU adding four goals in the second half.
After a couple near misses following the halftime interval, the Sea Lions doubled their advantage in the 56th minute through
Nikki Ross. The New Mexico transfer played the ball out wide to
Bethany Arabe to beat her defender and pull a ball back toward Ross, who continued her run into the box and slotted past the keeper.
Less than four minutes later,
Mackenzie Kimmel made it 3-0 after a clever free kick routine. Thrapp, who had already scored from one set piece, appeared likely to shoot from just outside the box but instead slotted a ball through to Kimmel, who blasted a shot with her fight foot into the top left corner.
Alexa Morris, who was denied earlier in the half when her powerful header was saved off the goal line, then scored her first collegiate goal in the 66th minute.
Grace Nelson nodded the ball down at the top of the box to Morris, before her right-footed effort lofted over the goalkeeper and into the back of the net.
Alana Diaz, making her first start of the year after recovering from a season-ending injury last October, rounded out the scoring in the 84th minute with a well-taken half volley from a Nelson corner kick.
"It's fun to have Alana back and to have her get more minutes and more comfortable every game," Kiely said. "No surprise there that it came so quickly but just fun to have her back out there. It's a good burst of energy that I think we need."
Goalkeepers
Julia Pinnell and
Laine Moraes combined for the team's third shutout of the season, with PLNU outshooting CSUDH 25-4 overall and 13-1 in shots on goal.
Point Loma (4-2-1 overall, 0-1 PacWest) returns to conference play on Saturday when the Sea Lions host Azusa Pacific at 2 p.m.
