HAYWARD, Calif. – Azusa Pacific finished off a successful spring break swing through central California with a pair of Saturday afternoon wins.
The Cougars started the day with a 10-goal with against Cal State Monterey Bay then topped Cal State East Bay 10-6 just a few hours later.
After the two wins Azusa Pacific moves to 11-8 overall entering Golden Coast Conference play next weekend. The Cougars finished their four-game swing with three wins.
Azusa Pacific 18, Cal State Monterey Bay 8
The Cougars were led by a foursome of players who tallied hat tricks. Britt Harris continued her strong play of late by finding the back of the cage four times while Annalise Batcheller, Marissa Joerke and Miereia Tutusaus Alcaraz each scored on three occasions.
After Cal State Monterey Bay scored the first goal, the Azusa Pacific offense exploded. Led by a Harris hat trick in the first quarter the Cougars scored six unanswered goals to close out the frame. The offensive exploits continued in the second stanza. Azusa Pacific scored six more goals, led by Joerke and Alcaraz's two each, as the Cougars took a 12-1 lead at intermission.
A bit of let-down happened in the third quarter as the Otters won the period by a 4-1 count. During the frame Alcaraz concluded her hat trick. The Cougars offense got back on track quite successfully in the fourth quarter. Joerke and Batcheller both finished off their hat tricks in the stanza while helping the squad to a 5-3 scoring edge in the last eight minutes.
In addition to her four-goal game, Harris also dished out two assists. Game high assist honor went to Arianne Yeo who handed out four. Not to go unnoticed was Gabrielle Martinez's two-goal, one-assist performance.
Defensively Erica Marquez made 12 saves in front of the cage while playing all 32 minutes.
Azusa Pacific 10, Cal State East Bay 6
The Cougars completed their victorious day by starting well and then completed the task in the final frame.
With each team scoring a goal just over 90 seconds into the game, Azusa Pacific went on scoring run. The Cougars scored the first period's last three goals as four different players contributed to a 4-1 scoring edge in the frame. A low scoring second frame ensued as the Cougars scored the only goal when Miereia Tutusaus Alcaraz scored the only goal with 44 seconds left in the half.
Cal State East Bay made things interesting in the third stanza. The Pioneer's scored four of the period's six net-finders to draw their deficit down to 7-5 entering the last eight minutes.
Azusa Pacific finished off the victory by taking momentum back early in the fourth stanza. Hannah Bradley scored 28 seconds in the frame then Alcaraz complete her hat trick just a few moments later to give the Cougars a four-goal edge again. Cal State East Bay scored their final goal with 4:22 left then Sarah Adams completed the scoring with 29 ticks left on the clock.
Erica Marquez played all 32 minutes to complete her hour-plus of time in the pool. The senior made 10 saves and had a team high three steals.
