Introduction
The 2014 Point Loma women's soccer team was a special squad. They earned PLNU's first-ever PacWest Championship and place in the NCAA West Regional, but that was last year and it means nothing coming into the 2015 season. That is exactly what Point Loma head coach Tim Hall would tell you; "last year is in the past and this year's team must create their own path."
 
The schedule
Once again there are no easy matches on the schedule for PLNU. The Sea Lions open the year with five matches against California Collegiate Athletic Association before playing their 13-match PacWest schedule.
 
"Those CCAA schools can all by vying to win their conference," said Hall. "The thing I'm liking is I think the PacWest and the CCAA are becoming closer. I think the PacWest is getting stronger and its growing to where both conferences becoming better and more equitable in their competitiveness. I love playing those teams because I know we'll compete very well against them.  We have a lot of good teams that we're playing "preseason" and those games will absolutely matter for the potential of an at-large bid.
 
"Then we jump right into the PacWest," Hall continued. "We open with Dixie, APU, Cal Baptist, and Hawaii Pacific that were all in the top 4 of 5 last season. There are no freebies in the PacWest and I think the PacWest is getting better, and there's more parity. The Hawaiian schools are legit. The Bay Area schools are getting much better.
 
"On our schedule we've got 18 games," he added. "We've got to have some luck but we got to be prepared. I'm very happy with this roster. I feel  like Point Loma is going to be more competitive roster-wise this next year than we were last year. We're going to be deeper, so I think we're set up well to do well, but that's just a lot of good soccer teams we've got on the schedule this year."
 
Team Strengths
Maybe the most impressive part of last year's PacWest Championship was the number of young players that saw game action. PLNU returns nine starters, including seven all-conference performers, and six other student-athletes that saw significant playing time last year. That experience should provide coach Hall with depth and be one of the strengths of Point Loma this year.
 
"The chemistry on the team is tight," said Hall. "These girls, the returning girls are such quality, and they've been that way each year. When we bring in these new girls and they treat them like family. They have to earn their stripes as far as players, but they don't have to earn their stripes as being part of the family. You either are or you're not. So I think the strength for this team is there's a real camaraderie. There is a bond with the new girls coming in that they've got understand they're going to be received as family, but they're also going to have to pay their dues. So I think that's our biggest strength, is team chemistry and the team dynamic, the ethos, the culture of the team, the love they have for each other, and it's very intentional, there's no exception. You don't always have to like each other, but you've got to love and respect each other.
 
"For me personally, all these girls have different levels, but some relationship with God and having that faith matters to them," Hall continued. "They're all good students but on the other side of the coin, we've got some really good soccer players. These girls are legit, and the new ones coming in are legit, so, we're going to be better. I think we will have the potential to be a better soccer team on the field than we were last year, but that remains to be seen."
 
Training Camp
With the talent brought in and so many talented returners coach Hall has some questions that will only be answered once camp begins.
 
"As a coaching staff, Amanda and Austin are always thinking about what other options or positions could this girl play that might make us stronger," Hall explained. "There are a couple other spots on the field that we might shift some girls around that I'm not sure. We will see how camp unfolds."
 
Goals
Coach Hall knows that others in the conference might put that target on PLNU's back as the defending league champions but his goals for this year's team go beyond just what happens between the lines.
 
"I want them to understand more and more of who they are as human beings, as people, young ladies, the young ladies of faith," said Hall. "I just want them to grow and develop. To me that is crucial. Develop relationships with each other that are lifelong. That is a goal every year . I want these ladies to look back on their time and go "that was a great team for me to be on, for my own personal growth."
 
"Secondly, we have a goal to compete," Hall continued. "We want to get to the national tournament again. We don't apologize for that. We want to go deep in the national tournament. We want to compete and perform on the field. We want every team that plays against us to know they're going to have to really play well today to beat us, because I know that we're going to have to do that to beat them. So our goal is to be very successful and to get to that national tournament, to go deep into it. My job as a coach is to keep those girls focused at one game at a time while we try to keep the big picture. Those are my main two goals."
 
Conclusion
Many of these Sea Lions have tasted a PacWest title and the playoffs and are looking for their next opportunity but coach Hall does not take anything for granted because of last season's success and knows that this team must outwork their opponents and play PLNU soccer to once again have a chance to go to the 'Big Dance.'
 
Here is a look at the Sea Lions by position:
Goalkeepers: Ariel Oriarte (Jr.), Jessica Warner (Fr.)
Coach Hall's quote: "Ariel Oriarte is coming back this season. She had a phenomenal year last year, and  she had a great group in front of her, but she was tremendous for us. We're also bringing in a young lady named Jess Warner who is transferring from Cal State San Bernardino. She is a good goalie and I think will push Ariel and compete with her for that spot. But knowing that we have such a high level goalie in Ariel is always exciting."
 
Defenders: Courtnie Marshall (Jr.), Dottie Rhoten (Jr.), HannaH Lawrence (Fr.), Morgan Pearce (So.), Perri Beck (So.), Maddie Denbaugh (Fr.), Keagan Bolibol (Fr.), Amanda George (So.).
Coach Hall's quote: "Last year our back four were very strong. We lost Claire Matthews, which you don't replace a Claire Matthews, but we have a very strong core, we have three of the four starters returning. Courtnie Marshall's a center back and she's fantastic player. Morgan Pearce, a freshman last year, will be a sophomore playing right back and then Dottie Rhoten, who will be a junior, she's a left back. We're not exactly sure who will be that other center back. We have a couple other girls on the roster we brought in that play the defensive center back role and they're good players. Camp is going to help us unfold that second center back position."
 
Midfielders: Michaela Maes (Sr.), Easton Kawawaki (So.), Sami Swanson (So.), Rachel Witz (Jr.), Tara Kracy (Sr.), Kaiti Freeberg (So.), Isabella Diaz (Fr.), Kelley Peterson (So.), Mackenzie Popp (Fr.), Larissa Lakin (Fr.), Kristen Cole (Fr.), Ashlee Smith (Fr.)
Coach Hall's quote: "We're going to be deeper across the board this year. Sami Swanson, Freshman of the Year last year in the PacWest, is going to be a sophomore this year at center mid, Tara Kracy a senior, she played holding mid for us last year, one of the middies, then we've got three or four other girls that you can roll into that position who are quite good. We're going to be much deeper in the central part of the field for the midfielders. We'll have to see who else flows in there. I feel like we have very good depth in the midfield."
 
Forwards: Shelby Murphy (Sr.), Jennifer Ballez (So.), Cori Deason (Jr.), Amanda Mitchell (Sr.), Emily Pedlowe (Fr.)
Coach Hall's quote: "We have a lot of options of really good players. Shelby Murphy's returning and we have Cori Deason who is our transfer from Northridge and is a very good player. Amanda Mitchell, who had a great spring, she's a tremendous athlete, very fast, I think she's going to break out and have a great year. We also have Jen Ballez and Michaela Maes, who is one of our best technical players. We also added new recruits Bella Diaz and Emily Pedlowe. So out of that three, we play a 4-3-3 on offense, and the three across the top. We have Easton Kawawaki and Katie Freeberg returning as sophomores. We also have a bunch of depth in the top six players. The three midfielders and three forwards are our six attackers. We have some good players there and lots more depth. I'm just really excited. I can't pinpoint who all is going to be what. I think we're going to have a lot more depth so when we take a travel team, it's going to be very strong. We've got some girls that can really play."