Azusa Pacific, ranked No. 2 in the final NAIA Coaches' Poll but seeded No. 4 in the national championship tournament, pulled off the biggest upset of the 15th Annual NAIA Women's Soccer Championship Tournament by beating No. 1-ranked, undefeated defending national champ and tourney host University of Mobile, 2-1, in Friday's semifinal game. The Cougars earned the title-game berth by virtue of a 3-1 shoot-out victory.

"This was the best game we played all year," said second-year Cougar coach Christian Johnson. "We did not make any mistakes and had them on their heels. We were unbelievable."

The 2 teams were tied 1-1 after regulation and played 30 minutes of regulation overtime and 30 more minutes of sudden death overtime. Yet, the extra hour of play could not determine a winner, thus sending the game to a shoot out.

In the shootout, Jackie Law, the 1997 NAIA Tourney MVP, put Mobile up first by converting her penalty kick attempt. Mobile seem to be headed toward the victory when sophomore Andrea Afiler missed right on the Cougars' first penalty kick. However, the Rams missed their next 3 attempts, thanks in part a great save by Cougar GK Rachael Yanos. The Cougars then drilled 3 straight PKs off the feet of Lisa Lawrence, Janay Duran and Jennifer Babel, with Babel's clinching the victory.

"I didn't think we were out of it even after our first miss," said Johnson. "Rachael had a brilliant save."

Alfiler ended 74 minutes of scoreless play with her third goal of the national tourney, giving Azusa Pacific a short-lived 1-0 lead. Mobile came right back though and evened the score at 1-1, thanks in part to the Cougars, who inadvertently tapped in a rebound for an own goal that was credited to Law.

Azusa Pacific had a couple of chances for other goals, twice hitting the cross bar, including once in regulation OT off a shot by Duran.

"We had a lot of good shots, but not any great shots," said Johnson. "It was a war, and they had some good counters."

The Cougars, now 23-0-1 and the only undefeated team left in the NAIA, meet Simon Fraser (15-3-2), the 1996 national champ, at noon (PST) in Saturday's championship game.

"The question is, 'can our legs last?'" added Johnson. "We have to shut down 3 players. Their team speed may not match up to ours, but if we go into overtime, we could be in deep trouble. I'm not sure we have much left in our tank after today." Simon Fraser is making its third straight NAIA championship game appearance. Not only is this the Cougars' first-ever national title game, it's Azusa Pacific's first-ever appearance at the NAIA Championship Tournament.

Scoring by Periods
Azusa Pacific (23-0-1)   0   1   --   2
Mobile (22-0-1)          0   1   --   1

GOALS:  Alfiler (AP), Law (UM)
ASSISTS:  none
SAVES:  Yanos (AP) 8, UM 19
SHOTS:  APU 36, UM 24
FOULS:  APU 27, UM 14
CORNER KICKS:  APU 8, UM 1