(BELLINGHAM, Wash.) No. 5 seed PLNU Women's Soccer scored first but had its season end on Thursday evening with a 2-1 defeat against No. 4 seed Azusa Pacific in the NCAA West Regional First Round.
"I'm thankful for this group and hate to see it end," Head Coach
Kristi Kiely said. "I'm thankful for the seniors and the time they've put into this program, as well as the captains for their leadership this season."
In a battle between the PacWest regular season and tournament champions, Point Loma outshot APU 7-2 in the first half and took a deserved halftime lead through
Zoe Crockett in the 39th minute.
Grace Nelson lined up a free kick and lofted a perfect ball to Crockett at the back post, for the PLNU center back to head home and put the Sea Lions in front.
Point Loma seemed destined for a seventh-straight NCAA Tournament Second Round appearance before APU answered back less than five minutes into the second half to tie it.
The Cougars then went ahead in the 58th minute, not even eight minutes after leveling the score.
Despite conceding the two goals after halftime, PLNU also outshot Azusa Pacific in the second half, 6-5 across the final 45 minutes.
Crockett nearly scored with another header, this time off a corner, while
Maddy Saruwatari forced a save and
Kylie Garcia's shot off a bouncing ball almost dropped beneath the crossbar before landing on top of the net.
"We had every opportunity to win this game, and we couldn't make it happen," Kiely said. "For the seniors, it's deep sadness. It's the end of a season of life. But for the rest of the group, it's important learning.
"In this sport you can be up 1-0 and lose the game, you can dominate the stats and lose, and you can be deeply motivated to win and not come out on top. We experienced all of that today. My hope is that it sits with us for a bit so that we can learn."
Point Loma (10-4-5 overall) finishes the season with a seventh-consecutive NCAA West Regional appearance after winning its second-straight PacWest Tournament title.
POSTGAME INTERVIEW
