Eddie Rogriguez's rebound goal in the 60th minute proved to be the difference for Fresno Pacific. However, it was Edgardo Contreras who kept the Sunbirds in the game by taking advantage of 2 Cougar mistakes. Contreras scored the game's first goal less than 5 minutes into play when he stole a clearing pass in front the Cougar net and beat Azusa Pacific goalie Tim Gorman in a one-on-one. Contreras and Gorman hooked up on another one-on-one encounter 6 minutes into the second half, this time in a penalty kick situation with Contreras beating Gorman to the near post.

Azusa Pacific, which had won 5 straight coming into the game and has just beaten a pair of NAIA Top 25 teams (Birmingham-Southern and Berry), knotted the score at 1-1 on Carlos Ochoa's header in the 29th minute. With less than a minute left in the half, Peter McGovern converted a penalty kick to put Azusa Pacific up 2-1 at the half.

The Sunbirds tallied 2 goals early in the second half and that was all they needed as the spent the final 30 minutes packing in their defense to thwart any Azusa Pacific opportunities. With the scored tied at 2-2, Cougar forward Jason Roufs fired a point blank shot that deflected off Sunbird goalie Ryan Swartz and off the cross bar, nearly missing a third goal for the Cougars.

The victory is Fresno Pacific's first over Azusa Pacific since a 2-0 verdict in Azusa in 1995. The Cougars had won 4 straight over Fresno Pacific.

The Cougars outshot FPU, 15-7, despite playing the final 30 minutes a man down after Oscar Hernandez received his second yellow card of the game.

Scoring by Halves
Fresno Pacific             1   2   -- 3
Azusa Pacific              2   0   -- 1

GOALS:  Ochoa (APU), McGovern (APU), 
        Contreras (FPU) 2, Rodriguez (FPU)
SAVES:  Gorman (APU) 3, Ryan Swartz (FPU) 5
SHOTS:  APU 15,  FPU 8
FOULS:  APU 17,  FPU 26