AZUSA, Calif. — In a rematch of a 2018 Sweet 16 men's soccer matchup between Azusa Pacific and Cal Poly Pomona, on Thursday night, the Cougars flipped the script and emerged victorious. Last season, Azusa Pacific saw its season end when the Broncos travelled to Azusa and beat the Cougars 1-0. Fifth-ranked nationally, Azusa Pacific found themselves in a back-and-forth affair that eventually needed overtime in front of the home faithful to decide the outcome. The match between the two ended (again) with just one goal separating them, and the Cougars used two goals in the final four minutes of the game to end the thriller with the score of 4-3.

"It's a new season, we're a new team, they're a new team. They're a really good team. One of the top (teams) in the region for a number of years and so, to be an even game with a team that's that good early on, shows that we're a really good team. Then, to get the victory makes it sweet," Head Coach Dave Blomquist said.

In the first half, each team had the lead once but after 45 minutes, the game was all knotted up at two heading into halftime. The Broncos started the scoring in the eighth minute before the Cougars scored two unanswered goals. The first Azusa Pacific goal was equalizer on a cross from Danillo Dias that set up David Kwinn perfectly at the back post to deliver his second goal of the season. The Cougars then took the lead for the first time in the game off of a penalty kick that was drawn by defender Orlando Lozano shortly after a corner kick. Reigning PacWest player of the week, James Ndubueze, stepped to the spot and delivered his fourth goal of the season that put Azusa Pacific up 2-1. The Broncos tied the game just before halftime.

In the second half, the Broncos took their second lead of the game in the 68th minute and protected that lead for 21 minutes. The Cougars tied the game in the 89th minute as the ball bounced around in the box before falling to Orlando Lozano who put it into the back of the net for his first goal of the season. With the game tied after regulation, the Cougars wasted little time in the overtime period scoring just two minutes into the period to win the game. Ndubueze scored the game-winning goal for his second of the game and his team-high fifth of the season. The goal was scored in transition as Arturo Astorga worked a nice combination play through the midfield before setting up Ndubueze with a one-on-one against the goalkeeper. Ndubueze did the rest and sent the home crowd into a frenzy with the overtime winner.

"It's our home game, and we tell ourselves every time that we're not losing at home. Everybody knows it. You could feel it on the field, the spirit. Even when it was 3-2," James Ndubueze said. 

The Cougars will look to continue their strong start to the 2019 season with a home matchup with Point Loma this Saturday, September 14th. This game will be a non-conference matchup between the two PacWest foes kicking off at 5pm.