AZUSA, Calif. – They had been their Achilles heel all year, and while the Cougars were able to muscle through them most of the time, in the end they forced an end to the season.

Azusa Pacific's inability to finish in the box and convert PKs cost the NAIA's No. 4-ranked Cougars, whose season came to an end in the semifinals of the NAIA Championship Tournament. Azusa Pacific and Point Loma Nazarene played to a scoreless tie through 110 minutes of action, but the Sea Lions breezed through the penalty kicks, 3-0, to move on and punch its ticket for a first-ever appearance in the NAIA title game.

Azusa Pacific out-shot Point Loma Nazarene, 8-5, in regulation and overtime play, including 5 shots on goal to the Sea Lions' 2. The Cougars had the best opportunities to win the game and none was better than Kelsey Walker's 17-yard bullet early in the first overtime the rifled off the near post. Walker followed with another shot that just went high and Molly Lavin placed a header on goal all within minutes following Walker's first attempt. However, Point Loma keeper Tiffany Kracy made an excellent save on Lavin's shot to keep the Sea Lions in the contest.

"We were just unlucky," said a disappointed Azusa Pacific head coach Jason Surrell. "Considering the muddy conditions, I thought we played very well and had 3 or 4, maybe 5, good chances at scoring to their none. From our angle on the sideline, it was shocking Kelsey's shot did not go in."

Point Loma didn't get a shot off in either overtime frame and had just one opportunity in its offensive end with a corner kick with 44 seconds left in the first OT.

Once the game moved into PKs, the Sea Lions dominated in a fashion similar to its performance in the Golden State Athletic Conference Tournament semifinals when the downed the Cougars, 3-1, in a shootout after the 2 teams had played to a 1-all draw. Hougen stuffed Azusa Pacific's Katie Rorabaugh on the Cougars' first PK attempt. After Point Loma assumed a 2-0 lead, Lauren Lane's attempt went wide. Point Loma converted its third attempt before Kracy blocked Brittany Flanagan's shot to clinch the advancement for the Sea Lions.

The Cougars have struggled throughout the postseason with PKs, missing a hefty 8-of-10 in 5 playoff games. It was perhaps a microcosm of a greater struggle on the season in which the Cougars converted less than 10-percent of their shots into goals, the lowest conversion pace in the program's 21-year history.

The majority of the game in regulation time was played in the midfield as the players tip-toed through extremely muddy conditions developed over the course of 3 days of rain earlier in the week. Neither team could command play in either half of the field, and ball control was difficult to maintain throughout most of the contest.

Azusa Pacific put together a more consistent offensive play late in regulation and carried the effort over into overtime, but the Cougars could not convert on any of several scoring opportunities. Now for the seventh time in the past 11 years, Azusa Pacific's campaign comes to an end in the NAIA Final Four without the fruits of a national title.

Azusa Pacific, which had beat PLNU 1-0 in San Diego during the regular season, closes the 2009 campaign at 17-3-2, with both ties coming at the hands of the Sea Lions. Meanwhile Point Loma Nazarene will take a 15-4-4 count into Saturday's championship match against either Lee University (Tenn.) or Concordia University (Ore.).

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