Cougars Snap Out of Doldrums

AZUSA, CALIF. -- The NAIA's No. 4-ranked Azusa Pacific ended 165 minutes of lackluster play with 2 goals less than a minute apart early in the second-half to open the way for a 4-1 GSAC victory over Concordia.

The Cougars, who were coming off a less than stellar performance in a 2-2 tie Wednesday night with Vanguard, surprisingly found themselves involved in a scoreless game at halftime with Concordia. However, back-to-back Matt Evans' corner kicks less than 4 minutes into the second half each resulted in goals off headers from Oscar Hernandez and Jacob Ward to kick start the Cougar offense.

Concordia scored a goal off a Cougar turnover that ricocheted to Trevor Bermudez giving him a breakaway one-on-one that he converted to cut the Cougar lead in half.

However, Azusa Pacific answered with 2 more goals in a 6-minute stretch that started when a sliding Jordan Jones neatly placed a J.D. Rotteau baseline cross into the back of the net. Freshman Michael Dwinnell then capped the evening with his second collegiate goal off a lead pass from David Alapag.

With the win the Cougars stretch their unbeaten streak to 8 straight and improve to 11-1-1 on the season, 3-0-1 in the GSAC. Concordia falls to 3-10 overall, 1-3 in the GSAC.

GAME STATS
Score by Halves 1 2 -- Final
Concordia 0 1 -- 1
Azusa Pacific 0 4 -- 4

Goals: Oscar Hernandez (APU) 48:05, (Evans)
Jacob Ward (APU) 48:50, (Evans)
Trevor Bermudez (CU) 63:58
Jordan Jones (APU) 76:59 (Rotteau)
Michael Dwinnell (APU) 83:53 (Alapag)

Shots: CU 4, APU 16
Corners: CU 1, APU 7
Fouls: CU 8, APU 13

Saves: Ryan Hopkins (CU) 7
Scott Strahammer (APU) 1

Cards: CU -- Zizi (76:07) yellow

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Players Mentioned

#1 Scott Strahammer: GK; 6' 3"; Junior

#2 Jordan Jones: MF; 6' 3"; Sophomore

#5 Oscar Hernandez: D; 5' 11"; Senior

#9 J.D. Rotteau: M/F; 5' 9"; Junior

#11 Matt Evans: M; 6' 0"; Junior

#16 David Alapag: D; 5' 7"; Sophomore

#19 Jacob Ward: D; 6' 2"; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

#1 Scott Strahammer
: 6' 3"; Junior
: GK

#2 Jordan Jones
: 6' 3"; Sophomore
: MF

#5 Oscar Hernandez
: 5' 11"; Senior
: D

#9 J.D. Rotteau
: 5' 9"; Junior
: M/F

#11 Matt Evans
: 6' 0"; Junior
: M

#16 David Alapag
: 5' 7"; Sophomore
: D

#19 Jacob Ward
: 6' 2"; Sophomore
: D