RIVERSIDE, Calif. – The second weekend of the season saw the Cougars compete at the Lancer Mini with games against Concordia and #11 Cal State Northridge.
Game One – Azusa Pacific 12, Concordia 11
The Cougars jumped out to a nice lead and held out in the final minutes to post their second win of the season.
Scoresheet vs. Concordia
Azusa Pacific scored the first four goals of the game as Megan Myers, Courtney Folsom, Maryann Slama and Taylor Whitney found the back of the cage. Concordia got on the board with 42 seconds left in the first period as the Cougars took a 4-1 lead into the second frame.
An Eagles goal less than a minute into the second eight minutes of action trimmed the Azusa Pacific advantage. Goals by Whitney and Britt Harris but the Cougars back in front comfortably at 6-2 with 3:26 left until the halftime break. However an extra-person goal followed by a full strength goal by Concordia kept things close as Azusa Pacific held a 6-4 lead with the final two periods left to play.
During the final 16 minutes the score was tied on two occasions and the goal differential was just one-goal through a majority of the second half. The third period saw Concordia outscore the Cougars 4-3. Yet, Azusa Pacific never gave-up the lead. Concordia tied the score at 7-7 with 4:04 left in the third quarter but goals by Ashley Taylor and Myers on back-to-back possessions kept the lead in Azusa Pacific's corner. A wild fourth quarter was set-up in part by a Concordia goal with 12 ticks left in the stanza.
Concordia scored the first goal of the final eight minutes when Meg Dix's found the back of the cage with 6:16 left. After an Azusa Pacific timeout, the Cougars proceeded to score the game's next three goals as Whitney scored twice and Myers tickled the twine at the back of the net. Azusa Pacific was in front 12-9 with just under three minutes left to play.
The Eagles put on a fierce rally. They cut their deficit to 12-10 with 1:28 left. After an empty possession by the Cougars, Concordia's Ann Kim made the score 12-11 with 1:10 left. However, the Cougars did enough down the stretch to claim the win.
Myers led the scoring charge with a four-goal contest while Whitney put together her third hat trick of the season. Slama and Harris each scored twice.
It was the second win in 11 all-time meetings for Azusa Pacific against the Eagles.
Game Two - #11 Cal State Northridge 14, Azusa Pacific 8
A quick start by the Matadors helped propel them to the win.
Scoresheet vs. Cal State Northridge
Cal State Northridge won the first period by a 5-1 margin. They followed that up by outscoring the Cougars 4-2 in the second eight minutes of action as they took a six-goal edge at the halfway point in the contest.
The Matadors went in front by an 11-3 count by scoring the first two goals of the third period. Despite their deficit Azusa Pacific shut out the Matadors the final five minutes of the stanza. During that stretch Ashley Taylor and Morgan Hage put goals on the board as Cal State Northridge held an 11-5 lead heading into the final period.
After tying the Matadors 2-2 in the third period, Azusa Pacific equaled the three goals Cal State Northridge put on the scoreboard in the final stanza. Alba Espinar, Taylor Whitney and Taylor scored the goals for the Cougars.
For the game Whitney put together her fourth hat trick of the year to pace the Azusa Pacific offense. Espinar and Taylor each recorded two goals.
