BELMONT, Calif. – Hawai'i Pacific University drew first blood, but it was a second half barrage from the Argonauts as Notre Dame de Namur beat HPU 5-1 in PacWest Conference play Thursday at Koret Field.
 
HPU (4-11-2, 4-7-1) fell even with the Argonauts (6-9-2, 4-7-1) in PacWest play with one game to go.
 
The Sharks opened the scoring in the 20th minute when sophomore Noelle Mercado of Honolulu, Hawai'i/Kaiser coverted a penalty kick for the 1-0 lead.
 
HPU held NDNU off the board until the 37th minute, when Maritza Gomez evened the game with a goal off assists by Alexis Prieto and Susan Whitney.
 
The score remained tied at 1-1 through the half, but that's when the Argonauts broke open.
 
NDNU scored three minutes into the second half to break the tie when Sarah Reyes ricocheted the ball of HPU goal keeper Lauren Spencer for the 2-1 advantage.
 
The Sharks battled the Argonauts tight when NDNU scored three times in three minutes that broke the contest open.
 
The first goal came in the 69th minute off a corner kick and a pass that set up Susan Whitney's header for the 3-1 lead.
 
Then just 49 seconds later, the Argos cashed in on Alexis Prieto's one-timer for a 4-1 lead.
 
NDNU capped the scoring in the 72nd minute when Gomez recovered a deflected save off Whitney's shot and scored to make it 5-1.
 
Notre Dame de Namur outshot HPU 22-7, with 11 shots on goal.
 
HPU's Spencer, a sophomore from Oxford, Mich./LaSalle, collected six saves in the shot barrage.
 
NDNU keeper Abigail Cebrero tallied three saves in the contest.
 
The Sharks wrap up the 2016 season on Saturday in Fresno, Calif., when the face Fresno State at Ramierez Field. Kickoff for the season finale is set for 4:30 p.m. HST (7:30 p.m. PDT).