IRVINE, Calif. – Vanguard outshot and outplayed Hope International in a women's soccer matchup on Saturday afternoon at the Orange County Great Park, but could not find the elusive goal and settled for the 0-0 draw.

More importantly, the Lions (7-5-4, 3-3-2) picked up a valuable point in the Golden State Athletic Conference standings, pulling them ahead of both the Royals and The Master's for fourth place. As a result, VU is the No. 4 seed in next week's GSAC Tournament with the opportunity to host an opening round game against fifth-seeded TMU.

Vanguard held a 20-8 edge in the shots department, including a 13-2 advantage in the first half. The Lions had several dangerous chances in the first 45 but HIU escaped trouble.

Jordin Holmquist-Wilder (SO/Temecula, CA) collected her eighth shutout of the season, making five saves, none more spectacular than a game-saving stop in the 88th minute.

Haley Slouka made nine saves for the Royals.

Rachel Penick (FR/San Diego, CA) took a game-high six shots for the Lions, with Kennedy Cypher (FR/Lake Tapps, WA) contributing three and two apiece from Alyssa Fong (SO/Rescue, CA), Madelyn Diaz (SR/San Clemente, CA) and Celeste Kiernan (JR/Las Vegas, NV).

What Happened?: VU was clearly the more threatening team in the first half. The Lions were robbed of a goal in the ninth minute when Penick juked a defender and took a shot that pinged the foot of Royal defender Lauren Lizarraga, ricocheting off the bottom of the crossbar but failing to cross the plane of the goal.

In the 18th minute, Fong dazzled several Royal defenders with some nifty dribbling but her shot bounced off Slouch and trickled out of harm's way.

Kiernan also pressured the Royals in the 25th minute as her header targeted the near post but found Slouka instead.

With 11 minutes to go in the half, Penick had a clear look at goal but she struck her shot high.

Holmquist-Wilder encountered Natalie Padilla in a 1v1 situation but cut off Padilla's angle, resulting in a textbook save in the 37th minute.

Despite the large discrepancy in shots, VU went into halftime scoreless with HIU.

Both teams had chances to score in the second half, but the best chance at breaking the deadlock occurred in the 87th minute.

Lizarraga got open some 25 yards from goal and lofted a well placed shot that appeared headed for the upper half of the goal. Holmquist-Wilder timed her leap perfectly, sticking her left hand up and tipping the ball just over the crossbar.

Why Is It Important?: The Lions got the result they needed and upped their shot count to 20 after three straight games with exactly nine attempts.

What Was Said?: "We had one mission today and that was to make sure we got that fourth seed," said Head Coach Lauren Mascaro. "It was a solid performance from every player on our team tonight – from the energy on the bench to the solid defense to our offense generating quality opportunities. A little focus on our finishing this week will set us up well for next Saturday when we get that rematch with TMU."

What's Next?: The Lions indeed meet The Master's on Saturday as the GSAC Tournament opening round game kicks off at 1:30 p.m. The two teams battled to a scoreless tie on Oct. 22 at VU Soccer Field.