AZUSA, Calif. -- Senior forward Hayley Gustafson came off the bench to score the game-winner just over 4 minutes into the second half of Azusa Pacific's 1-0 win over Westmont in the first round of the Golden State Athletic Conference postseason tournament Tuesday afternoon at the Cougar Soccer Complex.

The game-winner, Gustafson's first at Azusa Pacific and her third goal of the season, was set up by senior forward Marissa Ranberger, who also came off the bench late in the first half and stayed on the field at forward to start the second half with Gustafson and 2009 GSAC Player of the Year Theresa Broad. Ranberger's cross came screaming into the box from the right side, and Gustafson redirected it back to the near post past Westmont goalkeeper Roxanne Love in the 50th minute.

"At the end of the first half, I thought she (Hayley) and Marissa impacted the game at the wide forwards, so at halftime we decided to keep going with that," Cougar head coach Jason Surrell said. "Hayley has told me that she's hungry and ready for this, and she took full advantage of her opportunity today."

The goal was one of several quality scoring chances generated by the Cougar offense, which out-shot the Warriors by a 14-7 margin. In the 26th minute of a scoreless first half, freshman defender Rachael Harding got the ball deep in the box to Broad, who split the last 2 Westmont defenders for a point-blank chance from 8 yards out at a sharp angle along the left side. Broad's low shot to the far post skipped just wide of the goal. Broad also came close to finding the back of the net in the 61st minute, bending a 20-yard strike from the top left corner of the box towards the upper far post. However, the shot didn't curl quite enough, whizzing just a foot over the crossbar.

The Azusa Pacific defense posted its seventh shutout in 11 contests against GSAC foes, and the cleansheet was the third in a row for the Cougars. Freshman goalkeeper Michelle Wieland made a career-high 5 saves to preserve the shutout, which was her sixth of the season.

"It's very stressful, because we know that a lot of playoff games are 1-0 and 2-0 games," senior All-GSAC defender Katie Rorabaugh said. "It's very important for our defense to stay focused, especially as a team and not just with the back four. (Defense) starts with the forwards and the midfielders before getting to the backs, and we know that one slip-up could cost us a goal and possibly a game in the postseason."

The victory also avenges Azusa Pacific's lone GSAC defeat of the year, a 2-1 double-overtime loss to the Warriors Oct. 21 in the final second of double overtime.

"I thought maybe we would have been a little more excited, but this is a really composed group," Surrell said. "I don't know if the level of the game or the opponent really seems to faze them a whole lot. I liked the fact that they weren't up for this game any more than normal, because sometimes when you get too excited, you don't play your best."

The Cougars nearly went into the halftime break with a 1-0 lead in the 42nd minute, when junior midfielders Jennie Cress and Kelsey Walker nearly hooked up for a score. A Cress cross from the right was lifted over the Westmont goalkeeper by Walker, but a leaping one-handed tip by Love redirected the ball back into the crossbar, and the rebound was cleared from danger, one of Love's 3 saves on the day.

"Westmont is a pretty defensive-minded team that doesn't commit a lot of numbers forward," Surrell said. "It takes some work to break that down, but I thought we had a lot of good quality on crosses, players getting behind and serving the ball in."

With the win, Azusa Pacific advances to the GSAC Postseason Tournament semifinals, where the tournament's top-seeded Cougars will host fourth-seeded Point Loma Nazarene, a 1-0 winner today over fifth-seed The Master's. Friday's semifinal match will kick off at 2 p.m. Admission for adults is $8, the faculty/staff/senior price is $6, and Azusa Pacific students with ID will be admitted free, courtesy of the Azusa Pacific soccer program.

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