AZUSA, Calif. – They are too young to comprehend the frustration, but Azusa Pacific forwards Bridget Brotherton and Theresa Broad became quickly aware that they and their teammates accomplished some significant.

The sophomore Brotherton and freshman Broad each scored a pair of goals to propel the NAIA’s No. 2-ranked Azusa Pacific to a convincing 5-0 victory over No. 22 Biola, Tuesday afternoon in both team’s GSAC opener. The victory is Azusa Pacific’s first over Biola in 4 years and snaps a 5-game winless streak to the Eagles.

“I didn’t realize until Sunday that it had been a long time since we beat them,” said Broad, who tallied the game’s first goal on a nifty give-and-go from sophomore Sarah Yoro. “I’ve been excited about this game since Sunday.”

Though the season and their careers are still young, Broad and Brotherton are already stirring memories of another pair of Cougar forwards, All-Americans Kendra Payne and Missy Myers who led Azusa Pacific to the 1998 NAIA national championship. In a similar fashion, Broad and Brotherton are running circles around opposing defenses and frequently finding the back of nets.

“I don’t know what it is, but we just have a good connecting,” said Broad of her partnership with Brotherton. After Azusa Pacific assumed a 1-0 halftime lead on a Broad goal, the duo made quick work in the second half by tallying a pair of goals less than 70 seconds into the final frame. Brotherton knocked in a loose ball 8 yards out before Broad took a tap pass from Brotherton and rifled a shot high and to the near post to put Azusa Pacific up 3-0.

“Coach told us that if Biola scored early in the second half, they’d have the momentum and it’d be a different game,” said Broad. “He said we needed to finish them off in the first 10 minutes, so we came hard.”

“We came out with more energy in the second half,” said Brotherton, “and the second goal by Theresa just killed Biola. They didn’t seem like the same team the rest of the way. They didn’t pressure nearly as hard.”

In the 71st minute Brotherton registered her team-leading eighth goal when she took a Jolie Nitta lead pass and beat Biola keeper Keri Schulz for the second time in the half. Yoro closed out the scoring with a beautiful arching rocket of a free kick in the 77th minute to post her third goal of the campaign.

“We have a pretty athletic bunch,” said Cougar coach Jason Surrell, “and it showed on the field today. It was important to get this first conference game and get off on the right foot.”

A year ago, the Cougars didn’t get to its best foot in the conference opener vs. Biola. Two days after returning from a cross country trip to Kentucky, Azusa Pacific settled for a disappointing 1-1 tie in La Mirada. This year, the Cougars again met Biola 2 days removed from a trip to Tennessee. This time, however, so too was Biola, who joined the Cougars this past weekend in the same tournament at Lee University.

“I was a little worried about this game coming back from Tennessee,” said Surrell, “but it was nice to know that Biola was in the same situation as us. We were a little sluggish in the first half, but we got after it to start the second half and that was the difference in the game.”

Azusa Pacific dominated play throughout the afternoon, out-shooting the Eagles, 27-6, which included a 15-3 advantage on shots between the pipes.

In this one game, Azusa Pacific scored as many goals as it had in the 5 previous meetings with Biola and posted its largest margin of victory over the Eagles since a similar 5-0 verdict 7 years ago in 1999.

“This group isn’t phased by much,” said Surrell. “They play hard all the time and have a lot of confidence and composure.”

Azusa Pacific improves to 7-0 on the season, 1-0 in the GSAC, and pushes its regular-season unbeaten streak to 27 straight. Biola falls to 4-2-1 overall, 0-1 in the GSAC.