(SAN DIEGO) No. 16 PLNU Men's Soccer ended the regular season in style with a 4-0 win over Fresno Pacific on Saturday afternoon on Senior Day.
Point Loma entered the day having already clinched a third-straight PacWest Conference title, but that didn't stop the Sea Lions from making a statement with a dominant victory over the Sunbirds.
"I'm very proud of the boys for finishing the regular season in a good way," Head Coach
Phil Wolf said. "It was a really good performance, and I thought there were a lot of positive things coming out of it."
Cole Friesen scored the opening two goals before
Emmett Layman gave the Sea Lions a three-goal cushion at the half.
Zack Mercieca then scored in the second half to round out the scoring, as PLNU finished out the regular season outscoring its opponents 13-0 in its last two games.
Friesen's first came in the 13th minute, when
Zion Yeboah's left-footed strike ricocheted off the post and straight the forward to finish first time.
Friesen then doubled PLNU's advantage in the 28th, after
Emmett Layman won the ball in the corner and squared it across the six-yard box for Friesen to take his tally for the season up to 11.
Layman then equaled Friesen's PacWest-leading goal tally of 11, also held by teammate
Elijah Langford, lacing a ball with his left foot above the keeper's hands and into the back of the net.
Mercieca made it 4-0 in the second half, calmly finishing after
Niko Kaczmarczyk played him through at goal.
Point Loma (13-3-1 overall, 9-1 PacWest) will be the No. 1 seed in next week's PacWest Championships, hosted in Santa Barbara at Westmont College.
PLNU will play FPU for the second straight game, in a rematch of last season's PacWest semifinals which the Sunbirds won 1-0.
"I'm proud of the boys for what they're doing for the program and winning a third consecutive PacWest championship," Wolf said. "Hopefully we get to play more meaningful games the rest of the season."
