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It’s one thing to win an NCAA title, which Point Loma Nazarene University did last season in NCAA Division II women’s soccer.
It’s another thing to defend it.
The Sea Lions officially started down that path Thursday afternoon with a 2-1 victory over Canada’s Simon Fraser University in the first round of the NCAA West Regionals on the PLNU soccer field.
It was a tougher-than-seeded match that PLNU won by defending a 2-1 halftime lead by not allowing the Red Leafs a shot on goal over the final 58 minutes.
“We were prepared for a really good Simon Fraser and we got that,” said PLNU women’s coach Kristi Kiely. “We had done our homework and felt it was going to be a close game. It wasn’t going to be a two (PLNU) vs. a seven (the Red Leafs) pairing. It felt like a 3 vs. a 4.”
But that’s the way the Sea Lions’ season has gone.
“Defending the title is absolutely tougher,” said Kiely. “I don’t think we’ve seen one team show up and plsay the way we prepared for them. Nobody knows how this year has been. I’m really proud of our group’s ability to execute under stressful situations every single time. Nobody knows that unless you are experiencing it. We’re a target.”
“Both winning the title and defending it have their challenges,” said defender Emma Thrapp. “When you are doing it for the first time, there’s an excitement, a freshness. There’s a certain energy that goes into it. It’s hard if you’ve never been there. You can’t pull from any experiences.
“But defending as champions is also hard. Every team we’ve faced has played us really well. They play their best game against us. Defending … we’ve had our ups and downs. We’ve navigated it.”
Which is what the Sea Lions did Thursday afternoon.
They built a quick 2-0 lead on goals from Alana Diaz in the eighth minute and and Nikki Ross in the 28th minute. Ross punched home a rebound off her own blocked shot just seven minutes after entering the game as a substitute. “I try to bring as much energy as I can,” she said.
Simon Fraser scored in the 32nd minute just two minutes after PLNU goalkeeper Julia Pinnell made a leaping save. But the Red Leafs’ goal would also be their last shot on goal. During the second half, the PLNU defense — led by Thrapp, Naomi Ellis and Zoe Crockett — neutralized most of the Canadians’ thrusts long before they got into shooting range.
“We had to adjust and problem-solve today,” said Kiely. “That’s one thing that I like about our players. We adjust really well. I felt our defending was OK today … not our best. But not to allow a shot in the second half, our collective defending was really good.”
PLNU was also aided by playing with the bright setting sun at their back in the second half — a tactic Kiely goes to whenever possible.
Now 16-2-1 on the season, the Sea Lions will host Hawaii-Hilo Saturday at 1 p.m. on the PLNU campus in a second-round match. The Sea Lions defeated Hawaii-Hilo 3-2 in double overtime last week in Hawaii to win their conference title.
Meanwhile, the PLNU men’s soccer team dropped a 2-0 decision to Western Oregon in Pueblo, Colo., Thursday in its first-round NCAA Division II tournament game. The Sea Lions (11-4-3) were tied 0-0 when they drew a red card in the 70th minute. Western Oregon then scored in the 80th and 83rd minutes.
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