PUC Lady Pioneers Dominate Keelhaulers 6–0 to Stay in Playoff Hunt

By Kenneth Perez

Images Courtesy of Abigail Suttan

With the CAL PAC season reaching its halfway point, the Lady Pioneers picked up an important three points to keep their playoff hopes alive. After their first conference match against Stanton University was canceled and ultimately forfeited, PUC was left with one less opportunity to climb into playoff position, making this matchup all the more critical.

The Pioneers faced a winless Cal Maritime Academy (CMA) team in a bout that could ultimately decide whether they remain in the top four. Despite missing several sophomores and dealing with injuries to key starters, PUC came out firing.

The Pioneers struck early, finding the back of the net just 11 minutes in. Senior captain Kaylin MinceyNeal threaded a perfect pass to freshman Taylor Delgado, who calmly slotted it past the keeper for the opening goal.

Just three minutes later, Leylah Echeverria laid the ball off to captain Ryann Van Horn, who dribbled into open space and blasted a long range strike past the CMA keeper to make it 2–0. The Pioneers fired off nine more shots before halftime, but Keelhauler goalkeeper Hayden Carter made several key saves to keep the scoreline in check.

Despite playing through injuries, Camryn Folkers and Carolyna Mora came off the bench to provide a spark. Alongside Kambrie Jehs, they anchored the defense, limiting CMA to just one shot in the entire second half.

PUC's dominance continued after the break. Twelve minutes into the half, a foul on the edge of the box set up a free kick for Ryann Van Horn, who buried it with confidence to extend the lead to three. Eleven minutes later, Rose Portillo slipped a through ball to Taylor Delgado, who finished for her second goal of the match.

The scoring surge kept rolling as Ryann Van Horn's corner kick found Kyleigh Melconian, who tapped in her first collegiate goal. To cap off the performance, Leylah Echeverria recorded her second assist of the day by finding Ema Clemens, who scored on her Pioneer debut to make it 6–0.

For her standout performance of two goals and an assist, Ryann Van Horn was named the CAL PAC Defensive Player of the Week, continuing her strong campaign after earning All CAL PAC Second Team honors last season. Taylor Delgado's brace also moved her into a tie for the team's scoring lead, showcasing her pace and creativity up front with nine total shots, six on target, in this match alone.

Goalkeeper Avery Alves remained solid in goal, saving both shots on target to secure the clean sheet. Alves currently ranks number two in the CAL PAC in total saves, save percentage, goals against, and goals against average.

The Lady Pioneers return to action for their final home match of the season, Senior Night against Simpson University on Saturday, October 19 at 3 p.m.