COSTA MESA -- Vanguard men's soccer took on Point Loma on Thursday in the final game before Pacific West Conference play began, but the Lions lost 4-2. The Blue and Gold equaled PLNU in shots on goal in the game (six) and had more total shots (15-9), but the Sea Lions were able to score in bursts to improve to 3-2-2, while VU dropped to 1-5-1.
What Happened? The onus was on the home side early to prevent the preseason favorite in the PacWest from strolling to an easy win. The early pressure gave
Ashton Ta-Tran the first shot of the game, and his deep, bending ball almost slid in over the goalie, but it hit the crossbar instead and went over the bar. Unfortunately, that was the best look VU had in the half, as Point Loma then scored in the seventh minute to put the Lions down 1-0. Vanguard settled into a more defensive posture, which puzzled the Sea Lions for a spell, but a ball over the top broke the haze and led to the second PLNU goal in the 24th minute.
The VU substitutes started to piece together the Point Loma defense towards the end of the half, with most of home side's shot attempts coming over the final 15 minutes, but the Sea Lion keeper made only one simple save in the half.
Point Loma should have made it 3-0 three minutes into the second stanza, but the shot kissed the post and rolled all the way across the goal mouth before it went out of bounds. With that warning in hand, an innocent play led to the first VU tally, as
Tyler Williams flipped a high ball from midfield towards the Point Loma end. A favorable bounce beat the Sea Lion defenders, and
Ben Myers stroked the ball home to cut the gap to 2-1 for his first collegiate goal in the 54th minute.
Yet, the Sea Lions soldiered on and made a reply two minutes later to return to a two-goal lead. The visitors got their fourth in the 64th minute, but the Lions also had one more in them. A cross by
Angel Santoyo led to a shot by
Nico Pacelli, but it hit crossbar. Luckily, the deflection returned the ball to the freshman, and he lashed it into the back of the net for his first collegiate goal in the 75th minute.
Caleb Johnson made one more good stop after that to conclude the scoring chances for the contest.
Vanguard had a 4-3 lead in corner kicks in the match, and Johnson made two saves in net. Williams and Pacelli had a team-high of three shots apiece, and
Javier Camargo had two.
Zander Zill made his collegiate debut and had one shot.
What's Next? Westmont is VU's first PacWest opponent in 2026, with the match set for next Wednesday at 4:00 p.m.
