LA JOLLA, Calif. -- For the second year in a row, the Point Loma women's soccer team has won its first round contest at the NCAA West Regional, beating No. 4 seed Cal Poly Pomona, 3-1, on Thursday afternoon on the campus of UC San Diego.

It is the second year in a row that the No. 5-seeded Sea Lions have defeated a No. 4 seed from the CCAA at UC San Diego in the NCAA West Regional. The Sea Lions will next face UC San Diego in a rematch of last year's sub-regional final with kickoff scheduled for 2 p.m. (Pacific) on Saturday.

Cal Poly Pomona dominated the opening minutes of Thursday's contest scoring in the third minute of the game in a two-on-one. Taylor Scott fed the ball to Allyssa Larkin on her right, and Larkin shot to the left post for the first goal of the game. However, that was the only goal that was allowed by the Point Loma goalkeeper Emma Hinson, who made four more saves in the first half.

Point Loma scored three unanswered goals in the rest of the match to eventually run away with the victory in the first-round contest. The Sea Lions tied the score in the first half on a corner kick. Abbi Swanson took the corner kick sending the ball to the near post, where Rachel Carrell redirected the ball with her head over the goalkeeper's hands into the far post for the equalizer in the 38th minute.

The second half of the match was dominated by Point Loma, who didn't allow a shot on goal for the rest of the contest. In the 58th minute, Point Loma took the lead on a goal by Hailey Clifford that was assisted by Abbey Teagle. It was Clifford's third goal this season and the eventual game-winning goal as Point Loma improved to 13-4-2 on the season.

Point Loma had a slow start to the 2019 season by the standard that the program set for itself last season. One of the team's four losses in the first month of the season was against Cal Poly Pomona. However, one of the key differences between Point Loma during the first month of the season and during the team's 12-match unbeaten streak has been the success of Julia Glaser, who has scored a goal in all but one match of Point Loma's streak. 

Glaser made it 11 of 12 matches with at least one goal on Thursday with a highlight-reel goal in the 68th minute. The senior had the ball with her back to the net from outside the 18-yard box. Glaser took the ball out of the air and turned and shot all in one motion, placing the ball just inside the crossbar for her 13th goal of the season. Ever since Glaser joined the Sea Lions' program in 2018, the team has never lost a match in which she has scored a goal.

On Saturday, Point Loma is looking to become the first PacWest women's soccer team to ever advance to the NCAA West Regional final, which will be hosted by the highest remaining seed in the NCAA West Regional, which will also host the quarterfinals of the NCAA National Championships.