(SAN DIEGO) The Sea Lions will surely remember the 21st of September.
No. 17 PLNU Women's Soccer played its first game on its newly renovated PLNU Soccer Field on Saturday and ran rampant offensively, routing UCCS by a 5-2 scoreline.
"It was so fun to be back at home – we're always grateful for our crowd and their support," Head Coach
Kristi Kiely said. "The new field is great for us. It plays quick and it's beautiful. It took a little bit of time to get here, so we were grateful to just be at home."
In a rematch of last year's national quarterfinals, Point Loma scored two quick goals in the first half to take an early lead.
In the 14th minute,
Jillian Tubbs latched onto an
Alana Diaz through ball and tucked her shot through the goalkeeper's legs into an empty net to open the scoring.
The Sea Lions then doubled their lead three minutes later through
Zoe Crockett, who headed home an
Emma Thrapp corner kick.
"I think we knew we had to come out strong and we knew the team that defended better was going to be the team that was better on the day, and I certainly felt that way today," Kiely said. "They're a strong opponent. We met them twice last year and had different results, so there was a lot of anticipation in the game. To score two goals early was great."
UCCS cut its deficit to one in the 39th before PLNU opened the floodgates in the second half with three goals in less than 10 minutes, including two from freshman midfielder
Gianna Masinter.
Masinter restored Point Loma's two-goal cushion just over a minute into the second half.
Naomi Ellis sent a long cross forward that was flicked up by
Nicki Friedman towards Masinter, who managed to keep a bouncing ball underneath the crossbar with a stellar half-volley from distance.
In the 55th minute, Ellis then launched a long throw-in that bounced through traffic to
Bethany Arabe, who made no mistake with her finish at the top of the six-yard box.
Just 42 seconds later, Friedman picked up her second assist on the day, playing Masinter through at goal before the freshman blasted home her second goal of the game.
"I love the combination of players who were involved in the goals and that we finally got one on a set piece," Kiely said. "We've earned a lot of them, so to be able to capitalize on that opportunity was great. Certainly, Gianna's two goals were just fantastic and they were very well-taken."
The win was a great response from the Sea Lions after a loss and a draw on the road last week.
"I appreciate the alertness of the team and their willingness to stick with the game plan which was to take care of three different areas," Kiely said. "I felt like we took care of those three areas really well.
"For us to walk away with that many goals, we needed that. The goals are great, but the response of their play and their commitment to the game plan is what I think was most impressive and most needed."
Point Loma (3-1-1 overall) now sets its sights on its PacWest schedule, which begins on Thursday at new conference member Menlo. Kickoff in Atherton is scheduled for 4 p.m.
"We've had some adversity in some ways that we've had to deal with and hopefully we've learned from those moments," Kiely said. "We'll just continue to do better and we hope this will propel us into conference play."
POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE
