Box Score KANEOHE, HI (October 6, 2014) – The Hawai'i Pacific Men's Soccer  Team (5-4-1, 3-1) lost its first PacWest Conference game against Point Loma University (1-7-1, 1-3) 2-0 at muddy Atherton Field on Monday.
 
The Sharks had to start the game from behind as a good header after a corner kick brought the early lead to the Sea Lions in the seventh minute.
 
In the first half, PLNU played active and did not give HPU much space to develop its game. Also, the wet conditions at Atherton Field, caused by heavy rain over the weekend, did not benefit the teams' attempts to control the ball and resulted in several bad passes on both sides.
 
In the 19th minute, Erik Kemsies took a good volley shot from inside the box but the ball missed the goal by just a few inches.
 
Generally, Loma's good defensive work made it hard for the Sharks to create chances. However, the Sharks managed to be dangerous on set plays. In the 29th minute, a good header from Javier Risco Garcia almost tied the game.
 
After the changeover, HPU played more aggressively. Nevertheless, the Sea Lions stayed calm and gave the Sharks a hard time defensively. The physically hard play resulted in a total of nine yellow cards (HPU 7-2) and an ejection for HPU in the 72nd minute.
 
Even with just ten players left on the field, HPU kept pushing but was not able to overcome PLNU's constant and effective defense. HPU's effort went unrewarded, as another good shot from Kemsies in the 74th minute did not find its way inside the goal.
 
Starting an all-out attack in the final minutes of the game, the Sharks had to accept the second goal due to a misclear by the keeper. PLNU's second goal of the day also secured the Sea Lions' first win of the season.
 
The statistics present an advantage in shots (14-10) and shots on goal (9-4) for the Sea Lions. HPU's most active players were Kemsies with three shots and Brais Garcia with two.
 
"Point Loma is a good team that has been struggling so far. Instead of putting pressure on them early, we gave up the early goal to give them confidence. With the field conditions the way they are, it is tough chasing a game. We had to change the way we wanted to play. Today, we were not a very intelligent team," said Head Coach Chris Fisher after the game.
 
The Sharks will play their next game on Thursday, October 9th, at 12:30 pm at Atherton Field in Kaneohe against Dixie State University.