Women's Soccer

Sea Lions Stun Vulcans, Nelson Leads Eagles, Williams Steps Up Big for Cougars

Point Loma hands first loss to Hilo, Biola wins a pair behind Nelson and APU ties CUI behind GK work

Point Loma won two games in Hawai`i, including a 3-0 stunner over conference-leading Hilo. They are the Team of the Week. Peyton Nelson of Biola scored a goal in each of her team's victories on the islands to earn Player of the Week, and Azusa Pacific's Maddie Williams had a career-high seven saves to help keep nationally ranked Concordia to a one-goal minimum during a 1-1 tie with the Golden Eagles for Defender of the Week honors.

2023 Results/Schedule
2023 Standings
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2023 National Poll
 
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Biola's Peyton Nelson, F, Soph., 5-8, Cypress, Calif.                                                                
Peyton Nelson helped lead Biola to their first two conference victories of the season, both on the road at Hawai`i Pacific and title-contending Chaminade. Against the Silverswords, the Eagles dealt the home team their first loss of the season in PacWest play (4-1-1), thanks in part to Nelson's opening goal in the 39th minute during a 2-1 final. Two days later at HPU, the sophomore forward scored the match's only goal in the 60th minute in the 1-0 victory. Nelson, who started nearly every match last year as a freshman, leads the Eagles with five goals on the season this year. 
 
DEFENDER OF THE WEEK: Azusa Pacific's Maddie Williams, GK, Jr., 5-6, Santa Clarita, Calif.                                    
Azusa Pacific goalkeeper Maddie Williams had a career-high seven saves during a 1-1 tie with No. 12 nationally ranked Concordia. For the Golden Eagles, it was their first result other than a win since late in August. Williams stopped seven Concordia shots before their last one finally slipped through in the 87th minute to bring about the tie. The junior keeper, who was a Second Team All-PacWest pick last season, has a 1.11 goals against average on the season and has 31 total saves. 

TEAM OF THE WEEK: Point Loma Sea Lions                                                                                                                        
Point Loma provided the women's soccer stunner of the season thus far with their 3-0 road victory over No. 5 nationally ranked Hawai`i Hilo. In the big picture, the win itself wouldn't be considered shocking as the Sea Lions have been a PacWest power for a number of years. But the fact that it was on the road and by three goals added the shock value. It was only the second time all season that the Vulcans did not score and it was their first loss of the season. The Sea Lions scored all three goals in the second half in an eight-minute span by three different players--Mara Sovde, Grace Nelson and Zoe Crockett. Julia Pinnell had the shutout in the goal with a pair of saves. Three days earlier, Point Loma rocked Hawaii Pacific by a 5-1 count with Nikki Ross scoring a pair of goals. PLNU is now 4-2 in the PacWest and 8-3-1 overall. 
 
PACWEST NEWS AND NOTES: Concordia's Hailey Havican scored twice in CUI's 4-1 win over Fresno Pacific. The Golden Eagles extended its unbeaten streak to 11 matches and is the only undefeated team in PacWest play (5-0-1)...Hawai`i Hilo's streak of not losing in the regular season was snapped at 36 matches with the loss to Point Loma. UH Hilo's last loss in conference play was on Sept. 29, 2021 to APU...Dominican won twice last week with a 3-0 win over Academy of Art and a 2-0 non-conference shutout of UC Santa Cruz. Natalie Haro had both shutouts with a total of five saves, and Carmi Dotario had two goals off the bench in the win over the Banana Slugs...Auburn Monty had a great week in the goal for Biola, which included a 1-0 shutout of Hawai`i Pacific with seven saves. She had three saves in the Eagles' 2-1 win over Chaminade...Westmont's Maya Pablos had seven saves in the Warriors' 1-0 loss to Hawai`i Hilo...In APU's win over Concordia, Avery Guiel scored the first goal that the Eagles had given up since the opening day of the season when the Golden Eagles fell to CS Los Angeles, 1-0...Academy of Art's Kayla Hampton had 14 saves in ART U's 3-0 loss to Dominican. That is the second highest number of saves by a GK in the PacWest this season. 

LOOKING AHEAD 
It's an extremely light week in PacWest play, with just three matches over the next seven days. Fresno Pacific is at Azusa Pacific today (Monday), followed by Westmont at Hawaii Pacific on Tuesday and Biola at Fresno Pacific on Saturday. Next Monday (Oct. 30) has a full slate with Academy of Art at Westmont, Azusa Pacific at Chaminade, Dominican at Point Loma and a battle between nationally ranked teams when Concordia travels to Hawaii Hilo.