PLNU MEN'S SOCCER AIMING FOR MORE HISTORY IN 2026

(SAN DIEGO) Following a historic 2025 campaign, PLNU Men’s Soccer hopes to make more history in 2026 as Point Loma enters the new campaign ranked No. 7 in the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Poll, its best ever preseason ranking.

“We want to keep the program moving forward and we want to keep getting better, which is our goal every year,” Head Coach Phil Wolf said. “Over the last probably 10-11 years we’ve done that fairly consistently, holding a certain standard and we want to keep that standard high.”

Fresh off the heels of winning a third consecutive PacWest Conference title and reaching the national quarterfinals for the first time in program history, the Sea Lions have their sights on doing something that’s never been done before.

“One thing that we've talked about a little bit is what it would mean to do something that's not been done before which is win four league championships in-a-row,” Wolf said. “There's a lot of growth and improvement that we’ll need over time, but I think that's a fairly tangible goal for us.”

Point Loma will once again look to dictate the tempo of games, as the Sea Lions did last season when they attempted the most passes per game and had the highest possession rate of any NCAA team in the country.

“We’ve created a culture in our program that we’re going to play a certain way and want to control games, and I don’t see that changing,” Wolf said. “We have a chance of being at the same level and perhaps even a little bit better at it. I think we're a little bit more mobile than we've been in the past, which I think helps when you play the way we do.”

 Wolf is excited for the depth this year’s squad possesses.

“I think we have more even level players and more competition within the team than we've had,” Wolf said. “There’s a little less separation between players which I think is a really positive thing. It makes guys hungry, makes them train well and then obviously depending on how you want to manage it, you maybe have a little bit of an opportunity to rotate teams and keep guys from overextending minutes in the college soccer season.

“I’m actually very excited about the challenge of how to do it and I’m excited for what we can turn it into.”

ROSTER

Point Loma returns 16 players from last season’s squad, led by D2CCA West Region Player of the Year and graduate forward Cole Friesen, who scored 14 goals and added nine assists last season.

Graduate defender Ryan Doyle, the 2024 PacWest Defender of the Year, joined Friesen on the All-PacWest First Team a year ago. Sophomore midfielder Inaki Santamarina, who led the PacWest in assists with 11, and junior defender Shawn O’Brien also return after earning All-Conference honors last season.

Returning junior goalkeeper Jeremy Caringella, senior forward Zack Mercieca and senior midfielder Simon Sagal also have previously received All-PacWest recognition as well.

“We have some guys who have played in a lot of big games over their years,” Wolf said. “Experience gets you used to accomplishing things, so I think the guys who have been the core over the last three years know what it means and how to get there, and know the level that you have to train and play at.”

Ian Garcia has converted to the striker position and can hold the ball up nicely, while graduate defenders Kaelele Fernandez, Lisandru Susini and Gage Wasserman will provide valuable stability in the back line after starting several games in their Sea Lions’ careers.

“I think we have enough guys who are still around that can hold guys to standards and then obviously we have a lot of new guys who are new to the program and are going to have to fall in line with what the expectations are and what we're trying to do,” Wolf said. “There’s enough remaining that I feel good about it and then I’m also excited about the new pieces.”

Adding to the experience of the returning players are a handful of high-level transfers in junior forward Matthew Vogel (MSU Denver), sophomore defender Diego Valles (USD), graduate midfielder Jake Goehring (Gonzaga), junior midfielder Alex Matin, junior defender Owen Riecke (USD) and junior forward James Haynes (Humboldt State).

Wolf also expects several true freshmen to make a significant impact this season.

“There's a few guys who are true freshmen that I think are going to make an impact right away,” Wolf said. “Jacob Rodriguez is a local guy from Albion as a central defender and is already showing signs of being college ready. Jack Merrill in the center midfield from Washington is mature beyond his years.

“Cal Correnti from Nashville has had experience in the MLS system, and Evan Youngflesh an Irvine Strikers player. Those are the four young guys who I think have a chance to breakthrough right away.”

SCHEDULE

Point Loma opens its season with two home games, beginning on Thursday against RV Cal State San Bernardino in a rematch of last year’s NCAA Tournament Second Round which PLNU won in penalty kicks after Gonzalo Gurrola’s goalkeeping heroics.

The Sea Lions then host the Broncos of Cal Poly Pomona on Saturday at 1 p.m.

“San Bern and Pomona present a different type of intensity which is a hard thing to stimulate in training,” Wolf said. “With our three scrimmages and what those three teams asked of us, I feel very good about our preparation. That doesn't guarantee results but at least it guarantees we'll be ready for it.”

PLNU will then hit the road for three games, including two in the Pacific Northwest (Sep. 3 at Western Washington, Sep. 5 at Seattle Pacific), before traveling to Cal State Dominguez Hills (Sep. 9).

Point Loma returns home to host Cal State Monterey Bay (Sep. 12) before playing its final two non-conference games against two PacWest opponents – at Vanguard (Sep. 17), home versus Westmont (Sep. 19).

“It's as tough a schedule as we've had in a long time,” Wolf said. “Dominguez Hills, Pomona and San Bern are consistently in the top five in their league. Then we play Vanguard and Westmont in the non-conference, so I think after eight games we're going to know a lot and hopefully after eight games we're very prepared for what the conference presents us.”

Point Loma begins its nine-game conference schedule with three consecutive home matches against Chaminade (Sep. 24), Hawai’i Pacific (Sep. 26) and Hawai’i Hilo (Oct. 3) before concluding the regular season on Oct. 31 at Westmont.

PLNU will then look to defend its PacWest Tournament crown when the PacWest Championships are held Nov. 5-7 in San Rafael.

The conference tournament champion will earn an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament, which begins Nov. 10 and concludes Dec. 3 in Kansas City.

For the team’s full schedule, click HERE.