Vanguard rose up and gave Azusa Pacific its first conference loss, snapping a number of Cougar streaks in the process. Mackenzie Wright of Jessup secured the school's first-ever WSOC Player of the Week award with two goals, and Westmont's Ellie Ludwig helped her team to a 2-0 week with 12 saves across two matches. 

2025 Results/Schedule
2025 Standings
2025 Statistics
2025 National Poll
 
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Jessup's Mackenzie Wright, F, Soph., 6-0, Rocklin, Calif.                                        
Jessup's Mackenzie Wright scored twice against Fresno Pacific, and in the process earned Jessup's first-ever women's soccer Player of the Week nod. The sophomore scored two of her team's three goals in the 4-3 loss to the Sunbirds, including one right before halftime and one after the break. She attempted only three shots, two of them finding the back of the net. It was the first goals for the CS San Bernardino transfer since the season opener when she scored four against California Maritime. 

DEFENDER OF THE WEEK: Westmont's Ellie Ludwig, GK, Jr., 5-6, Temecula, Calif.                                    
Westmont's Ellie Ludwig helped her team improve their postseason hopes with a pair of defensive gems last week against Hawaii Pacific and Chaminade. The Warriors and Ludwig shutout the Silverswords 2-0 behind six saves from the junior goalkeeper, and then the Temecula native added six more saves in a 2-1 victory over the Sharks. That gave her 12 saves for the week and her first shutout as well. The Warriors have won three straight matches to improve to 5-2 in conference play (15 points), tied for second in the PacWest.  

TEAM OF THE WEEK: Vanguard Lions                                                                                                                
Vanguard is the Team of the Week after securing the upset of the PacWest season thus far with a 2-0 home win over first-place Azusa Pacific. The Lions scored once in each half, with Rachel Penick supplying both a goal and an assist in the victory, while goalkeeper Josselyne Navarrete had the shutout with four saves. Vanguard, who improved to 2-4 in the PacWest, snapped No. 25 nationally ranked APU's six-match winning streak and ended the Cougars' streak of 11 matches without a loss. It was VU's first Division II win over a ranked opponent.

LOG JAM AT THE TOP: With only two weeks left in the PacWest regular season, the conference standings are tight as can be. The top four teams are within three points of each other as the season heads down the final stretch. Ultimately, the top four squads will make their way to San Diego for the PacWest tournament on Nov. 13-15. Here is where we currently sit with the all the teams still mathematically eligible to qualify for the trip to Point Loma.
Team, conference record, points and matches left this season (E for mathematically eliminated from tournament qualification)...
*Azusa Pacific 6-1 (18), 3 matches left
*Westmont 5-2 (15), 3 left
*Concordia 4-1-3 (15), 2 left
*Hawaii Hilo 4-1-3 (15) 2 left
*Point Loma 3-0-3 (12), 4 left
*Dominican 3-1-3 (12), 3 left
*Fresno Pacific 1-2-4 (7), 3 left
*Vanguard 2-4 (6), 4 left
*Chaminade 1-4-2 (5), 3 left (E)
*Biola 0-2-5 (5), 3 left (E)
*Hawaii Pacific 1-4-2 (5), 3 left (E)
*Menlo 0-3-3 (3), 4 left
*Jessup 0-5-2 (2), 3 left (E)

PACWEST NEWS AND NOTES: Concordia and Hawai`i Hilo battled to a 1-1 tie on the Big Island in a match between two 2024 NCAA playoff teams, and the Vulcans did the same against defending PacWest champ Point Loma by the identical 1-1 count...Both the Golden Eagles and Sea Lions won their other matches in Hawaii with CUI shutting out Chaminade 2-0 and Point Loma doing the same to Hawaii Pacific, 3-0. Goalkeepers Riley Urquiza (CUI) and Julia Pinnell (PL) gave up just one goal on the week and had 10 and 11 saves respectively...In two matches last week, HPU's Skylar Jacobsen totaled 16 saves, eight each against Westmont and Point Loma...In a 1-1 draw between Fresno Pacific and Dominican, Sunbird keeper Ayana Kirisimasi had six saves and Penguin Michelle Salas Viniegra had seven...FPU's Gizelle Aguirre scored the first two goals of the game, just ten minutes apart, to help the Sunbirds to their first conference win, 4-3 over Jessup...Westmont's Amelia Villa had two goals and a assist during Warrior wins over Hawaii Pacific and Chaminade.

LOOKING AHEAD: As the PacWest schedule heads into the final two weeks, ten big matches are on tap (all matches are big at this point obviously).
Wednesday--Vanguard at Westmont, Azusa Pacific at Point Loma, Concordia at Biola.
Thursday--Hawaii Pacific at Dominican, Chaminade at Menlo.
Saturday--Biola at Vanguard, Chaminade at Jessup, Hawaii Pacific at Menlo, Point Loma at Westmont, Concordia at Fresno Pacific.
To see the complete list, click here.