(SAN DIEGO) Four different players scored for PLNU Men's Soccer in a 4-2 win over previously unbeaten Cal State Monterey Bay on Saturday afternoon.
After falling behind early in the 19th minute, Point Loma responded perfectly with three first half goals to take a 3-1 lead into the half.
"We've been having a hard time scoring goals, so I think in a way we can take a positive off of it," Head Coach
Phil Wolf said. "The first one we kind of gifted but I'm proud of the guys that they kept fighting and kept coming back and scored those goals."
Less than four minutes after subbing into the game following CSUMB's opener,
Simon Sagal laced a left-footed shot into the bottom left corner of the net to draw the Sea Lions level off an
Inaki Santamarina assist.
Evan Youngflesh followed that by scoring his first career collegiate goal in the 29th minute to give PLNU the lead, collecting a
Zack Mercieca pass before slotting into the net with his left foot.
Friesen then doubled Point Loma's advantage before the halftime interval with a header at the back post from
Diego Valles, who combined well with Mercieca to get behind the defense before lofting a perfect ball to Friesen to tap in.
The Otters got one back early in the second half, cutting the Sea Lions' lead to 3-2 in the 50th minute.
CSUMB then had a chance to equalize only for goalkeeper
Gonzalo Gurrola to save a penalty kick to keep PLNU in front.
"That's a game changer right there," Wolf said of Gurrola's penalty save. "If it's 3-3, you're feeling the chaos of it, that's for sure. That's a big save and was a game saver. It gave us momentum and was discouraging to them."
Point Loma then had a penalty of its own saved at the other end moments later, before the Sea Lions added a fourth from the spot in the 63rd.
Jack Merrill stepped up to take the penalty this time, slotting home his second spot kick in as many games to make it 4-2 PLNU.
"He's a freshman's taking a couple big penalties," Wolf said. "He doesn't have a pulse and I'm proud of him that he's willing to step up and take it. He made it look pretty comfortable."
The win is PLNU's second of the season and ends a three-game winless run for the Sea Lions.
"We're kind of in a in a tough patch right now, so we just have to keep fighting and keep trying to get better," Wolf said. "It's hard since we don't get much training time, we're kind of using games to try and get better.
"This is probably one of the craziest games I've been around. We don't want games to play out like that all that much. We have a lot of work to do but hopefully we'll turn it around."
Point Loma (2-2-2 overall) concludes non-conference play next week with matchups at Vanguard on Thursday (4 p.m.) and home against Westmont on Saturday (1 p.m.).
POSTMATCH INTERVIEW
