PLNU’s women’s soccer team have advanced to the NCAA Division II Championships for the second consecutive season after beating Holy Names University (HNU) last Saturday in Oakland.
The win capped off the culmination of yet another great season for the women’s soccer program, as the Sea Lions finished with an overall re-
cord of 14-4 and 11-2 in conference play–which closed out their six-game winning streak
The Sea Lions were faced with a win-or-go home scenario in their last season game against HNU. Due to a combination their preseason record against teams outside of the PacWest and a tie atop the conference with Azusa Pacific University, the team had to win their last game to extend their season.
After trailing 0-1 to HNU in the first half, the Sea Lions tied the game
off of Morgan Pearce’s second goal of the season. The Sea Lions eventually won when Junior Cori Deason converted a game-winning goal with 33 seconds remaining for her third goal on the year.
The Sea Lions have now had 16 winning season records since 2000— their second season as an official soccer program.
This now marks the eighth consecutive year that the team has reached the postseason under Hall.
“Obviously it takes everybody, it’s
not just me, I have a great coaching staff overall that helps tremendously like Amanda Schindler and Austin Mobley [both assistant coaches],” said Hall. “And then we recruit hard. [We look for] the type of athlete that will not only play soccer but will do well in the classroom and one that will want to be in an environment like Point Loma’s.”
In many ways, the 2015 season has mirrored much of the success from last year, with the team out-scoring and out-shooting their opponents
24-6 and 294-80. But Hall said the main difference from last year has been balanced skill- set exhibited by all the players in this year’s roster.
“I am very cautious in talking about better teams, because they’re all so different,” said Hall. “I’d say this team’s deeper. We have more depth this year than we did last year. So there’s some tremendous similarity: they work hard, they buy into the sys- tem and the chemistry’s good. They’re different, but I would say the key factor is the depth.”
Another notable difference this season has been the break-out year from sophomore mid fielder Easton Kawawaki. Last season, Kawawaki recorded one goal and an assist. This year she has totaled a team-best four goals and two assists—tied for third on the team.
Coach Hall said Kawawaki’s first season was a tough transition during her freshman year.
“She [Easton] was dealing with the whole freshman transition last year,” said Hall. “So her confidence as a sophomore now has just increased in large ways; Easton’s got potential to be big-time. The key with most of these girls is their confidence level by saying, ‘I can do this.’ She’s the same athlete, but she’s just more mature emotion- ally, physically and in her confidence.”
They will play their first-round match on November 13 against Sanoma State Seawolves at Azusa Pacific University.
Cade Michaelson 
Luke Mallery