AZUSA, Calif. – Starting a game and striking early usually leads to success. Thus was the case on a hot sun soaked afternoon on Saturday.
Azusa Pacific scored quickly and built momentum first en route to their 3-0 victory over Hawaii Pacific. The win is the third straight for the Cougars who up their record to 3-4-2 overall and 3-1-1 in PacWest games. The Sharks fall to 5-4-1 and 3-2-1 respectively.
"It was a tough day with the conditions the way they were and to start fast it really just gave us confidence and put us more in control of the game. They had to chase us a bit and in this heat that's tough," said head coach Dave Blomquist.
The duo of Callum Wallace and Carlos Garcia-Partida provided enough scoring the Cougars would need in the opening minutes. Azusa Pacific scored their fastest goal of the season when Wallace scored in the second minute off a feed from Garcia-Partida. Less than 12 minutes later the duo connected again and the Cougars were up 2-0 just over 13 minutes into the contest.
"I have been pleased with Callum's play since day one. It was our plan to bring him along slowly but he has impressed more-and-more. For his young age he has a maturity about himself in his game and in his personality," Blomquist said.
Hawaii Pacific was able to get the ball into their attacking third of the field on handful of occasions during the opening half but couldn't get an official shot on goal. Azusa Pacific held an 8-5 edge in total shots during the opening frame.
In the opening minutes of the second frame the only significant chance came when Kaleb Armbrust, in the 53rd minute, went just wide of the goal. Garcia-Partida nearly put a score of his own on the scoreboard but his blast with 22 minutes left went just high.
Armbrust did find the back of the cage in the 74th minute when Wallace fed him a nice ball from the center of the field. Armbrust did the rest with a blast on the left side from 10 yards out for the game's final tally.
Azusa Pacific won the battle on the score sheet as they outshot the Sharks 11-7; including 6-1 edge in shots on goal.
The Cougars defense hasn't allowed a goal in 311 minutes. The last goal they allowed was the first day of the month against Point Loma.
"I think our team defending is showing through. We are doing it together. After the first few games we weren't as tight as we needed to be but the guys have stepped up and are really working hard," Blomquist said.
