PLNU MEN'S SOCCER HOPING TO CONTINUE CONSISTENCY IN 2024

(SAN DIEGO) PLNU Men’s Soccer had been knocking on the doorstep of a first conference title for years and finally got their reward by winning the PacWest championship in 2023.

Having accumulated the most points in the conference over the past nine seasons, the Sea Lions are trying to prove their consistency once again this year.

“I think the natural tendency would be asking what's the next step but trying to prove consistency is probably a little bit more my emphasis,” Head Coach Phil Wolf said. “I like the fact that we're always there. That’s important to me and the program, that we're always in and around it.”

Rather than simply trying to replicate last year’s success, Wolf and the group are focused on finding a new way to achieve its goals this season.

“The one thing you can’t do is try to do it again, you just try to do it in a newer way, a different way or hopefully a better way,” Wolf said. “That’s what has been our goal.

“I would like us to continue to push and progress. I think we have the group that wants to play in big games again and they want to see what they can become.”

One emphasis for the team in training camp has been starting the year better defensively.

“We just weren't ready to defend at the level that we needed to defend (at the start of last year), so that's been a little bit more of an emphasis this training camp to make sure we have a more solid foundation defensively,” Wolf said. “We know our attackers are going to get their chances and we know how potent they are. They’re going to be really dangerous this year.”

After two weeks of training camp at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center, Wolf is pleased with how the team is coming together.

“I really like what I’ve seen,” Wolf said. “The guys came in physically ready. The two weeks that we've been able to train have been really positive.”

ROSTER

Point Loma returns 18 players from last season’s team, while adding 12 new players.

“I really like the makeup of the group,” Wolf said. “I really like the quality of the group, and I think we have a lot of really good pieces. It's just a matter of going through a season and trying to find ways to win games.”

Amongst the team’s returners are PacWest Defender of the Year Milo Libby, an All-Region selection last year, as was midfielder Milan Diklic. The team also brings back All-PacWest forwards Felix Calero and Austin Lavell, as well as All-Conference midfielder Gael Ruiz.

“We have a bunch of guys who have played in a lot of big games and have been rewarded for that with awards over their time here, and other players who are also really important to us,” Wolf said. “We have a nice core of guys that provide us real stability and hopefully we can get off on the right foot.”

In attack, Calero tied for the team lead with eight goals last season, all of which came in the last 13 games of the year. Lavell provided six assists, while Elijah Langford and Zach Mercieca both scored four goals as freshman in 2023.

“I think we have a few guys that can score 10 goals, which is a decent number at the college level,” Wolf said. “We're hoping for multiple guys that can maybe hit that mark and spread the goals around.”

In the midfield, Ruiz is expected to be joined by a combination of Oliver Padilla, Niko Kaczmarczyk and Simon Sagal, whom all impressed last season when on the field.

Point Loma led all PacWest teams during conference play in goals against average (0.80), with returning defenders Ryan Doyle and Kaelele Fernandez playing a big role in that.

Transfers Reinier ter Riet (goalkeeper), Emmett Layman (forward) and Matthew Enriquez (defender) are also expected to make a significant impact this season, while Wolf has been impressed so far with incoming freshmen Shawn O’Brien (defender) and Keoni Young (forward).

SCHEDULE

Coming off a first ever conference title for PLNU Men’s Soccer, the Sea Lions enter 2024 as the favorites to repeat as PacWest champions.

But before they can defend their conference championship, Point Loma faces yet another challenging non-conference schedule.

“The first five games are daunting,” Wolf said. “We'll be asked a lot of questions and have to come up with a lot of answers because of the qualities of the teams we’re playing, but I think the guys are up for the challenge and want to see where we are.”

The Sea Lions open their season with two games at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center, against Cal State San Bernardino on Thursday at 4 p.m. and versus Cal Poly Pomona on Saturday at 5 p.m.

The team then flies to Colorado to play Regis (Sep. 12) and Colorado School of Mines (Sep. 14) before traveling to Cal State Dominguez Hills (Sep. 19).

“We try to give different experiences in the program to the guys,” Wolf said of his team’s trip to Colorado. “We haven’t really done anything in Colorado and obviously that conference is very tough.

“I think it's a different type of challenge than the CCAA teams, so it’s a way to kind of test ourselves. I'm sure these are NCAA level games that we're going to be playing in. We can look forward to those and take them as a big challenge.”

Point Loma will then open conference play with three-straight away games, starting against Menlo (Sep. 25), before hosting Westmont in its conference home opener on Oct. 5.

After traveling to Azusa Pacific (Oct. 9), the Sea Lions will then play their next four at home against Concordia (Oct. 12), Hawai’i Pacific (Oct. 17), Chaminade (Oct. 26) and Biola (Nov. 2) before finishing the regular season on the road at Fresno Pacific (Nov. 7) and Academy of Art (Nov. 9).

The team will then hope to compete in the postseason, beginning with the first rendition of the PacWest Men’s Soccer Championships, which will take place Nov. 14-16 at OC Great Park in Irvine.

The winner of the four-team conference championships will earn an automatic berth into the NCAA Super Region 4 playoffs.

“I think it's much wiser to make sure we're in the top four of our league and make sure we're playing the best that we can at the end, as opposed to grinding the team out,” Wolf said. “Would I love to win the regular season? Sure, because that shows you've been the best over the regular season, but the conference tournament adds a new dynamic to it.”

For the team’s full schedule, click HERE.