Azusa Pacific's women's soccer team wrapped up its non-conference home schedule with a 1-0 win over Point Loma Thursday night at the Cougar Soccer Complex in Azusa.
The game's only goal came in the 20
th minute when
Abi Hume got her head to a loose ball in the box following a corner kick and tucked it inside the left post for her first goal of the year. "Corners are just something that we've focused on in training," Hume said, "so it was really big that we were able to finally get one of those in." It was the first goal the Cougars have scored off a corner kick this season.
The goal was part of a strong opening half hour of the game in which the Cougars outshot the Sea Lions 11-2. Defender
Morgan Hall put in 66 minutes on the back line in the game, and said of that start, "As a team, we just did excellent the first 30 minutes and came out hard and put them away, and that was really good to see."
Coach
Brooke Lincoln praised the work ethic the Cougars have exhibited so far this season. "It starts with our kids' buy-in, and that started during training camp, and – actually, even started last spring with our veterans, so that's going right. Every game is vital experience for them."
A huge part of the Cougars' success so far this season has been its defense. Azusa Pacific has held opponents to one or fewer goals in five of the first six games, including three shutouts. "I think every single person in the back line is doing their job and collectively, we're playing together," said goalkeeper
Jennifer Kovisto, who made six saves on the night. "We're winning balls, especially at the top of the box, which we struggled with last year. We're winning tackles and we're just keeping the ball out of the back of the net."
The win snapped a four-game winless streak at home against the Sea Lions dating back to the Cougars' inaugural season in the PacWest Conference in 2012.
Following the win, the Cougars improve to 4-1-1 on the season, and will wrap up the non-conference portion of their schedule on Saturday in Irvine against Concordia, with the match set to start at 1:00 p.m.
