A breakthrough season for the Hawaii Hilo women’s soccer team ended with a semifinal loss to Point Loma Nazarene in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at the PLNU campus in San Diego, Calif., on Saturday

Two days after UHH attained the first NCAA postseason win in program history, the Vulcans struck first but yielded two second-half scores to the defending national champion Sea Lions in a 2-1 defeat.

It was the second time in eight days that UHH (14-3-3) lost to PLNU (17-2-1). The Sea Lions stunned the Vulcans in the PacWest tournament championship last weekend when they came back to tie the match in the 88^th minute and won in double overtime.

PLNU had the necessary comeback energy on Saturday, too, as Bethany Arabe equalied in the 52^nd minute and Alyssa Ketcham had the game-winner just 36 seconds later on a headed cross.

“Point Loma’s a very good team, very well coached. Hat’s off to them,” UHH coach Gene Okamura said in an NCAA postgame video. “They figured it out twice on us in a two-in-one week.”

Second-seeded PLNU advanced to face top seed Cal Poly Pomona in the West Region final.

The third-seeded Vulcans scored in the 28^th minute when Filippa Graneld and Teani Arakawa combined on a give-and-go play. Graneld got it back and banged it in off the left post with her left foot.

Arakawa (81) and Graneld (61) ended their careers as the Nos. 1 and 2 point scorers in program history. Arakawa, a King Kekaulike High graduate from Makawao, Maui, is the PacWest Player of the Year and last season’s D2 CCA All-West Region Player of the Year.

Hilo bids farewell to 15 seniors.

“Season was awesome. The girls performed really well,” Okamura said. “We were away from home for five or six weeks, and no one else in the country has to do those things. This is our 13^th day on the road and the fact that they came and performed this way on the road was pretty impressive.”

Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.