OLATHE, Kan. -- Azusa Pacific was making just its second appearance ever at the NAIA Tournament without ever getting a win, but Andriy Budnyy and Brandon Stirm weren't about to let the streak stand.
The All-GSAC duo scored 2 goals apiece book ending a pair of Mobile goals in getting a 4-2 win in both teams' tournament-opener Friday in Olathe, Kan. The win is the Cougars' first-ever in 3 national tournament games, and it is the first time in 10 tournaments that Mobile did not win at least one game.
"This is great. First, your goal is to get here, and then once you're here, you want to win games," said Azusa Pacific head coach Phil Wolf. "We are as excited as we could be, but we have to move on, because we have a game tomorrow."
The Cougars struck first and settled the nerves just 1:13 into the game when Stirm cleaned up a loose ball in the box and hammered it home into the top of the net. Just 18 minutes later, the Cougars took a seemingly comfortable 2-0 lead when Budnyy drilled a 25-yard free kick past a diving Alessandro Barcherin and just inside the far post.
However, in a span of 24 minutes, Bjorn Asbjornsson erased the deficit with a pair of goals and with it snatched all momentum. The Rams began to control play as Asbjornsson cut the deficit in half in the 42nd minute when he picked up a failed clearance and slotted it into the lower left corner.
The Rams out-shot the Cougars, 22-14, including a slim 8-7 mark on target. Cougar GK Morgan Cathey made 6 saves, including 2 brilliant ones in the second half that kept the Cougars in the game.
"Morgan is a great keeper," said Wolf. "He was solid and had some huge saves for us."
In the 67th minute, Asbjornsson received a through ball from Edgar Morales and slid it inside the near post to deadlock the game at 2-2.
"We lost our way a bit midway through the game," said Wolf. "We lost confidence and were shaky in the back, but our moments that were good were great. We could have legitimately scored 7-8 goals. We were great on the counter, but just couldn't finish it. To score 4 goals against these guys is unbelievable. You can win a lot of games when you score 4 goals."
The game remained knotted up until the 84th minute when in a near carbon copy of his first free kick hammered another 25-yard freebee under the wall and inside the near post for a 3-2 Cougar lead. Just 3 minutes later, the Cougars got the insurance they needed when a Kolt Callway cross deflected off a Ram defender and to a waiting Stirm, who hammered a one-timer into the upper-90 to put the game away.
"This is the biggest game of my life and to walk away with the win is just incredible," said Stirm. "I can't explain just how excited I am. That second goal is probably the best goal I've ever hit."
The goals are Budnyy's 21st and 22nd of the season, and Stirm's sixth and seventh. The 4 goals allowed is the most Mobile surrendered since dropping an 8-1 decision at Lindsey Wilson Sept. 21.
"That kid (Stirm) is unbelievable. He is such a pure ball-striker," said Wolf. "If he can wrap his foot around it, you know it's going to be on frame and with pace. That last goal was an absolute cracker. For him to do this on this stage is unreal.
With the win, the Cougars improve to 17-1-2 overall and advance to tomorrow's quarterfinals where they face No. 1-seed and 6-time NAIA champion Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) at 2:15 p.m. (CST). The Rams' season comes to a close at 12-6-1.
"Lindsey is a great team," said Wolf. "We are going to have to play better than we did today to get the result we want. But, if I didn't think we could play with them, then we'd go ahead and just give them the championship and not play the game. That's why we play."
