(SAN DIEGO) PLNU Men's Soccer twice fought back from a goal down to send the NCAA quarterfinals to overtime, but had its deepest postseason run in program history end in overtime against Midwestern State in the Super Region 4 final, 3-2.
No. 3 seed Point Loma came out strong, with
Cole Friesen's header hitting the crossbar and
Emmett Layman's effort being saved off the line in the opening minutes of the match.
However, fourth-seeded MSU took the lead against the run of play with its first shot of the game in the 11th minute.
Point Loma, ranked No. 16 in the United Soccer Coaches Poll, had nearly two-thirds of the possession in the first half and was finally rewarded in the 60th minute when
Elijah Langford drew the Sea Lions level.
Curtis Collazos played a one-two with
Inaki Santamarina before playing Langford through to score with his left foot from a tight angle.
MSU, ranked eighth nationally, then retook its advantage just five minutes later with a stunning shot from distance following a PLNU giveaway.
However, the Sea Lions equalized once more with just 6:02 remaining in regulation, this time through
Diego Chavez, who scored his first goal of the season with a right-footed shot from outside the area after collecting a pass from
Shawn O'Brien.
Layman had a golden chance to give PLNU the lead with under two minutes to play before Langford nearly scored again from a similar angle to his goal in the final seconds of regulation, as the momentum had clearly swung in the Sea Lions' favor.
PLNU didn't have another chance to battle back from a goal down, however, as the Mustangs scored the golden goal game-winner in the 98th minute to win the NCAA Super Region 4 title and punch their ticket to the national semifinals in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Point Loma (16-4-2 overall) concludes its historic season with an NCAA-era program record for wins, a third-straight PacWest regular season championship, a first ever PacWest Tournament title and the deepest NCAA postseason run in program history.
POSTMATCH INTERVIEW
