(SAN DIEGO) PLNU Women's Soccer, receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches Poll, stayed unbeaten in PacWest play with a resounding 3-0 win over Vanguard on Wednesday afternoon.
Leah Uezato scored the opener late in the first half, before
Gianna Masinter made it 2-0 early in the second and
Nikki Ross sealed the three points for the Sea Lions, who still control their own destiny in the conference title race.
With the game scoreless 40 minutes in,
Abby Buys and
Abby Wright combined on the right flank, with Wright lofting a cross to the back post for Uezato to head into the back of the net and give Point Loma a 1-0 halftime lead.
"I thought Vanguard did well to deny us the things that we wanted to do early on and it took us a little bit to find our rhythm," Head Coach
Kristi Kiely said. "Out of the gate I thought we created some good opportunities in the first 10 minutes and then they did a good job for a good stretch of that first half.
"Thankfully we were able to get one, but I thought those that came into the game made great contributions. I was really proud of our players that came off the bench today because I thought they were pretty productive."
The Sea Lions then started strongly in the second half, as
Grace Nelson's corner kick found Masinter to score with her shoulder and double PLNU's advantage in the 49th minute.
Maddie Khan then miraculously won the ball back for the hosts before splitting her defenders on the dribble and finding Ross to round out the scoring in the 73rd.
"At this point of the year you'll take goals whatever way you can take them, but we've been working on set pieces because we know it's an area we can be more productive in," Kiely said. "Sometimes it's that area, sometimes it's wide play, sometimes it's service, sometimes it's how we build. You hope that at this time in the year, that all those things are coming together, that we can apply the things we learn each game and be able to do better than we did before. Today that was in the area of set pieces."
PLNU held VU without a single shot on target in the game, as the Sea Lions kept their second straight shutout.
Point Loma (8-2-5 overall, 5-0-2 PacWest), unbeaten in nine straight games, returns home on Saturday to host No. 13 Concordia at 11:30 a.m. with first place in the conference standings on the line.
"They're always a very good side and this particular year they've been very effective," Kiely said of CUI. "This game will demand the application of all the things that we've learned and all the moments, the hard and the good, to be able to compete with them. We're ready for it and it's going to be a fun day."
POSTGAME INTERVIEW
