(SAN DIEGO) No. 11 PLNU Men's Soccer handed Vanguard its first PacWest loss on Saturday afternoon, winning a battle of PacWest unbeatens and continuing its perfect start to conference play with a 4-2 home victory.
Elijah Langford scored twice in the first half to extend his PacWest lead in goals and reach double digits for the season, while
Cole Friesen scored on his birthday and
Emmett Layman also found the scoresheet.
Vanguard (6-4-2 overall, 4-1 PacWest), who entered the day atop the PacWest standings with 12 points, got on the board first just 1:36 into the match on an unfortunate deflection, but Layman responded for Point Loma (8-2-1, 4-0) soon after in the 10th minute.
A well-worked throw-in routine ultimately found Layman out wide left to cut onto his favored right foot and curl a spectacular shot inside the far post, with
Inaki Santamarina and Friesen credited with the assists.
Elijah Langford then put Point Loma in front with a free kick just outside the area after Friesen was fouled, reaching double-digit goals for the second straight season and becoming the first Sea Lion in the program's NCAA era to score 10-or-more goals in back-to-back years.
Langford, who has now scored in five consecutive matches, scored again in the 29th minute, this time burying a spot kick after Santamarina was brought down in the box by Vanguard's goalkeeper.
After Vanguard got one back in the 33rd minute, the PacWest's leading goalscorer nearly completed a second straight hat trick before the birthday boy Friesen restored PLNU's two-goal lead early in the second half.
Left back
Zion Yeboah passed to
Curtis Collazos, who turned and chipped a perfect pass to Friesen to smash home with his left foot on the half volley in the 51st minute and round out the scoring.
PLNU now travels to Hawai'i for a pair of games, beginning on Thursday at Hawai'i Hilo, with kickoff scheduled for 3 p.m. HT / 6 p.m. PT.
POSTGAME INTERVIEW
