A close contest from the start went Azusa Pacific's way late as they posted a 7-6 victory over Fresno Pacific on Saturday afternoon. The victory snaps a four-game losing skid for the Cougars. 

The Cougars win ups their overall record to 8-12 and 1-2 in Golden Coast Conference games. Fresno Pacific falls to 7-18 and 0-2 respectively.

Scoresheet

A trio of players for Azusa Pacific found the back of the cage twice in the nip-and-tuck affair. Megan Myers, Alba Espinar and Maryann Slama had a multi-goal game while Taylor Whitney also found the back of the net.

Both teams had numerous opportunities to score but both goalies stood tall. Fresno Pacific's Courtney Hall made 18 saves in front of the cage while Katie Margot tallied 10 for Azusa Pacific. 

During the first three quarters of play there were a total of six goals between the teams. In the final eight minutes they combined to score seven times. 

After splitting goals in the opening eight minutes the Sunbirds pushed ahead by scoring two of the three goals in the second quarter. A defensive third quarter ensued. Both teams were held scoreless until Espinar scored on a five-meter penalty shot with 39 ticks left in the frame. With the score knotted at 3-3 a thrilling fourth quarter followed.

Whitney scored just over a minute into the quarter to give the Cougars their first lead since the second quarter. Azusa Pacific never trailed the rest of the game but was pushed till the end. Less than 60 seconds after the Whitney goal, Fresno Pacific tied it at 4-4 on an Emily Marr net finder. 

Two goals by the Cougars less than a minute a part by Myers and Slama pushed their lead to 6-4 with exactly four minutes left. Despite the two-goal deficit the Sunbirds wouldn't relent as they scored 15 seconds after Slama's goal to trim their debt to one-goal.

Slama's second goal of stanza with 2:40 left gave the Cougars a two-goal cushion once again at 7-5. The scored remained that way until Marr converted on a five-meter penalty attempt with 27 ticks left. Azusa Pacific successfully ran out the remaining moments of the game to secure the win.

The Sunbird offense was paced by Marr's hat trick.