POMONA, Calif. -- It is only fitting that NAIA Player of the Year Kendra Payne become the GSAC's all-time goal scorer when her team needed her most. In Saturday's 3-2 win at Cal Poly Pomona, Payne scored career goals 49 and 50 to stake the Cougars to a 2-0 lead. Azusa Pacific went to beat the Broncos, 3-2, to run their unbeaten streak to 30 in a row.
With the scores, Payne broke the former conference standard of 48 career goals originally set by Westmont's Nicole Smith (1992-95). For her career, Payne now has 50 goals and 114 points, both GSAC records.
Hungry to avenged last year's 10-2 loss to the Cougars, Cal Poly rallied from the Payne goals to tie the game at 2-2 before the first half ended. However, Azusa Pacific was keenly aware of Cal Poly's desire to bounce back from last year's thumping. Thus, All-American Janay Duran picked the right time to notch her first goal of the season, finding the back of the net in the 75th minute to secure the win and preserve the unbeaten streak.
"We're not a midseason form," said third-year Cougar coach Christian Johnson, "but we have the potential to be a better team than last year. We're much deeper, but we have a lot of new players and it's going to take time to come together as a team."
The Cougars return home this week when they host the University of Redlands on Tuesday (Sept.7) and NAIA power George Fox College on Saturday (Sept. 11). Both games begin at 7 p.m.
