IRVINE, Calif. -- Point Loma won the first PacWest soccer match of the year, beating Fresno Pacific 2-0 to earn three points as the Sea Lions begin their quest for a third-consecutive PacWest title.
Earlier in the week, Point Loma earned a 1-1 tie against defending West Region Champion Western Washington in a rematch of that 2019 championship match. Then on Saturday, Abby Schmidt and Alana Diaz scored goals for the Sea Lions to lead them to a fourth win this season.
Chaminade improved to 2-2 on the season after defeating Hawai`i Pacific in a non-conference match, 1-0, with Caili Cain scoring the only goal of the match. The Silverswords are now one of five PacWest teams with multiple wins on the season.
Biola and Concordia had a scoreless tie when they faced each other on Saturday. Biola now has three shutouts this season.
Academy of Art got its first win of the season, beating Holy Names 1-0 on the road. Reyna Valencia scored the game-winning goal in the 55th minute.
This week, Biola will play on Monday against Cal Poly Pomona, which will be the final meeting of the regular season between PacWest and CCAA programs. On Wednesday, Azusa Pacific starts its conference season against Hawai`i Hilo in the first of three matches on the islands for the Cougars. Dominican and Fresno Pacific are each looking for their first win of the season and will face each other on Thursday in San Rafael, California.
Weekly awards for the week of Sept. 20-26
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Caili Cain, Chaminade
F, Fr., 5-5 -- Makakilo, Hawai`i
Cain scored her first career goal on Saturday and it was the game-winner as Chaminade earned a 1-0 victory over Hawai`i Pacific in a non-conference game. The win boosts the Silverswords’ record to 2-2 on the season along with the team’s win over Central Washington during the first week of the season. It was the final non-conference game for the Silverswords before starting PacWest play and the score was tied at zero going into halftime. Early in the second half, Chaminade earned a free kick from 30 yards away from the goal. Cain took the free kick and tried to score directly off of it. She shot into the left corner of the goal and curled it past the goalkeeper for the game-winning goal as the Silverswords went on to win 1-0. In total, Cain took four shots in the match and put two of them on frame. She played 37 minutes in the match and made the most of that time with the decisive moment in the match.
DEFENDER OF THE WEEK
Nicole Peoples, Academy of Art
GK, So., 5-7 -- Sacramento, Calif.
Peoples earned her second PacWest Defender of the Week award by posting her second and third consecutive shutouts of the season last week against Simpson and Holy Names. Peoples made 11 saves with no goals allowed in 180 minutes of work as the Urban Knights tied Simpson and defeated Holy Names, 1-0. Both matches were played on the road as Peoples helped Academy of Art earn its first win of the season against the Hawks. The Urban Knights are now 1-1-2 and the sophomore goalkeeper now has 34 saves on the season with only two goals allowed. Peoples has now produced 330-consecutive minutes without a goal allowed. During that stretch of 330 scoreless miunues, Peoples has made 33 saves. Only one goalkeeper in the whole conference has made that many saves in the entire season. She is the PacWest leader in save percentage, shutouts and saves per game for 2021.