OAKLAND, Calif. – The Cougars remained perfect all-time against Holy Names while increasing their chances of continuing their year past the regular season.
Azusa Pacific still has yet to drop a contest in six all-time meetings to the Hawks after a 6-1 victory on Thursday afternoon. Furthermore, the Cougars have outscored them 25-1 in those match-ups.
With the win the 19th ranked Cougars remain in a first place tie with Point Loma. For Azusa Pacific to claim the conference title they need to beat Dominican on Saturday and have Point Loma loss or tie in their season finale on Saturday.
"The whole team played well. We got into a good flow offensively early and were able to carry the momentum through," head coach Jason Surrell said. "We are starting to get healthy and our depth is a huge advantage for us."
In addition to the conference standings the Cougars all but control their destiny for a berth in the NCAA postseason. Heading into the weekend Azusa Pacific (14-2, 10-2 PacWest) ranks second in the west region with the top six teams from the region qualifying for the postseason. The final rankings will come out on Monday during the selection show at 3:30 p.m. (PDT).
After a handful of opportunities that came up empty in the early going, the Cougars found the back of the net for the first time in the 29th minute. Stephannie Lossau scored her fourth goal of the season when she controlled a pass from Mayra Almazan and fired the ball into the back of the cage inside the box.
Moments later Katelyn Rogers upped her team lead in goals by tickling the twine for the ninth time in 2015. The junior scored from inside the box after receiving a pass from Lossau in the 32nd minute.
During those dominating 45 minutes of play, the Cougars held a 12-1 edge in total shots while holding the Hawks without an official shot on goal; taking five of their own.
Less than 10 minutes into the second half Lossau had her second net-finder of the day. In the 57th minute the Hawks had an own goal to put the Cougars comfortably in front 4-0.
The rout was officially on in the 59th minute when Rogers pulled even with Lossau's scoring outburst by scoring her second of the day. Almazan deed her a nice ball to the left side and Rogers did the rest as she gave the Cougars a 5-0 lead.
"Having Katelyn and Stephanie both playing well is a huge plus for us offensively plus Mayra also continues to play at a high level with her two assists today," Surrell said. "When they are playing at a high level we are a tough defensive match-up."
Mikaela Truckey scored her first collegiate goal on a pass from Rachel Curley in the 70th minute for the Cougars final goal. The Cougars six goals were the most the program has scored since the 2013 when they traveled to Holy Names.
Holy Names (6-10, 4-8) scored with 20 seconds left when Rebecca Galbraith scored on a Michelle Gonzalez pass.
By the final horn the Cougars 26 total shots marked the third straight game they have had at least 25 shots. In Thursday's victory they put 16 shots on a goal which is a season high.
