ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Central Washington University women's soccer team fell to Point Loma, 6-1.
 
The Wildcats fall to 1-3-0 on the year, while the Sea Lions are 3-0-0. The Sea Lions outshot CWU 23-6, including a 12-4 margin for shots on goal.
 
Point Loma's offense burst into the game two shots in the first five minutes of play. Abigail Schmidt took the first opportunity, firing a shot which was parried by Megan Fox. Ninety seconds later, a corner kick from Mara Sovde found the head of Bethany Arabe. The header went wide, keeping the score at 0-0.
 
A corner for the Sea Lions in the 14^th minute generated a shot from Hailey Clifford, but she sent it over the crossbar with a bicycle attempt. In the 16^th minute, Schmidt rang the post before forcing Fox to make her second save moments later. Fox turned a shot away from Makenna Herrero in the 21^st minute.
 
The Sea Lions pulled ahead in the 27^th minute. Naomi Ellis played a through ball on the deck into the 18. It skipped past the defense and was one-timed by Mara Sovde for the 1-0 advantage.
 
"Point Loma did a really good job coming at us strong from the start," Assistant Coach Emmy Koflanovich said. "For 90 minutes they didn't let us have any space and took advantage of our mistakes. They did a good job keeping us under pressure and limiting our chances. I would have liked to see us connect more with our midfield to allow us to move to the attacking third."
 
Central responded quickly, however. Two minutes later, Casey Park notched the equalizer. Her first shot in the 28^thminute was parried by Emma Hinson. Forty seconds later, Makinzie Packwood drove toward the end line and sent a cross into the 18 for Park to one-time.
 
Just 20 seconds after the Crimson and Black levelled the score, Point Loma struck back. The attack went up the right wing where Olivia Shaw found Schmidt. She fired a low shot towards the far post. Schmidt's shot caromed off the post and over the goal line to give PLNU a 2-1 lead.
 
Point Loma added a brace in the 43^rd minute. A driven through ball was knocked down by Paige Devine in the 'Cats defending third and the ensuing ricochet was gathered by Courtney Seman, who slotted her shot to the far post for a 3-1 edge.
 
Through 45 minutes of play, the Sea Lions outshot Central 13-2. They also had a 3-0 advantage in corners taken. Fox made three saves in the first half. 
 
The Sea Lions were back on the attack. A shot just 52 seconds in was turned aside by Fox. Point Loma drew a foul inside the box seconds later to set up a penalty kick. Emma Thrapp took the penalty for the Sea Lions and did not miss.
 
Point Loma then added a pair of goals in the second half.
 
"The goals were preventable," freshman Tess Sparks said. "Players slipped through unmarked and that's an easy way for opponents to get to goal. Our back line is pretty young and it takes time to develop, but we need to step up better. We played very defensive-minded, expecting the counterattack, but that is tough to do the entire game."
 
Liz Canton took over in net in the 75^th minute. She made her first stop of the contest in the 80^th minute. 
 
The Wildcats managed a pair of chances on goal in the waning moments. Bella Brown and Maci Parke both put a shot on goal, forcing Rachel Fong into action.
 
Central Washington is back in action on Thursday (September 23) as they open GNAC play at Northwest Nazarene University. Kick-off is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. PT.