Last Thursday, the women’s soccer team lost 1-0 to Western Washington University (WWU) in the NCAA West Regional final.
WWU scored the lone goal of the game in the 27th minute when Peyton Chick played a free kick from near midfield into the box, and in the scrum, Emily Nelson was the first to react for WWU and poked it into the back of the net. PLNU was outshot 26-4 (15-2 on goal) on the game, but PLNU sophomore goalkeeper Emma Hinson recorded 14 saves, the most in program history.
“I told them I wasn’t ready to be done with them yet,” Coach Kristi Kiely said in her postgame comments to Danny Barnts and the PLNU athletics department. “They’ve been tremendous. It’s certainly a sad loss tonight, and anytime you see a [senior] class go, it’s a sad thing, but this group has done something special.”
WWU went on to defeat Dixie State 3-0 in the next round and will play in the Final Four next weekend. This season marked the best finish for the Sea Lions as they reached the regional final for the first time.
