FRESNO, Calif. – Rarely does anything normal happen when Azusa Pacific travels to the Central Valley for a contest with Fresno Pacific. Saturday night was no different.
In a back-and-forth contest that would make a see-saw tired the Cougars posted a 5-3 win against Fresno Pacific.
HOW IT HAPPENED: Azusa Pacific overcame deficits of 1-0 and 2-1 before putting the pieces together in the upper third and finding the back of the net four times in a 20-minute span in the second half.
Fresno Pacific opened the scoring in the fifth minute when Fellipe Souza scored off a Jose Segura assist. Bruno Pagani knotted the contest less than eight minutes later. The score remained 1-1 until the 36th minute when the home took a 2-1 edge on a Bruno Brumati net-finder.
Coming out of halftime, Rene Santos tied the score when he found the back of the cage when he followed his own shot for a rebound goal in the 57th minute. Just 70 seconds later Arturo Astorga gave the squad its first lead (3-2).
The high scoring second half continued as Gabriel Batista knotted the score for the third time in the 63rd minute. The game winner came in the 66th minute as Stephen Flora scored his first goal of the season after a perfect feed from Ethan Hopkins. The game was all but sealed when Aleksander Pumpalovic hit a cross from Astorga into the lower left corner.
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
- Brenden Fix was tested all night but came up with a season high 10 saves to help secure the victory
- The Sunbirds outshot Azusa Pacific 26-12 (14-10 on goal)
- Santos has a team high four shots; all of which were on goal
- Fresno Pacific took six of the game's 11 corner kicks
QUOTEABLE: "Tonight we had a good rhythm going in the upper third of the field," said head coach Dave Blomquist. "The communication we had offensively was great and I'm really happy with the way we moved the ball, created our chances and ultimately finished.
"Brendan played a really good game in front of the net. When these two teams play the field is wide and open the tempo of the game is very offensive. He did a great job tonight and he made some really key saves."
HIGHLIGHTS
GOALS, GOALS: The five-goal output is the most for the Cougars since the middle of last season when they scored six against Academy of Art. The eight total goals in the game ties a series record against the Sunbirds. The squad's previous scored eight in 1975 and 1976. The five goals versus the Sunbirds is the most for Azusa Pacific since 1975 (W, 5-3).
AT FRESNO: It is the first win for an Azusa Pacific squad at Fresno Pacific since the 2009 season.
UP NEXT: The Cougars host Academy of Art to start their final two-game homestand of the season on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
