LA MIRADA, Calif. — Needing a win to secure the PacWest title for the third consecutive season, Azusa Pacific men's soccer rose to the occasion defeating rival Biola 3-2 on a David Kwinn golden goal just seconds into overtime Saturday night. After a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Fresno Pacific kept their championship hopes alive just 48 hours prior, the Cougars once again came out on top in a tightly contested battle for their sixth straight win in conference action, edging Point Loma at the top of the table by one point. It's just the second time in PacWest men's soccer history that any team has won three consecutive titles.

"Tonight was a gritty performance and a great win," head coach Dave Blomquist said. "It was two teams showing a ton of desire and a game worthy to decide the conference and hats off to what Biola showed tonight. We had a moment of excellence at the start of overtime from David Kwinn and James Ndubueze and that was the difference. I can't say enough about the heart this team shows and the leadership from the players."

How it Happened: The No. 10 ranked Cougars surrendered a penalty in just the 8th minute of the game and Biola's Theo Le Calve took advantage beating goalkeeper Brendan Fix who guessed the wrong way. It was the first time Azusa Pacific had trailed since their last loss to Concordia (October 9). 

The Cougars experience showed the rest of the half as they continued to enforce their possession style of play on their opponents. It was to no avail until a free kick taken by Renan Gomes challenged Biola's goalkeeper in the 22nd minute. Off of the shot, captain James Ndubueze caught the Eagle goalkeeper lacking as he surrendered a rebound before then fouling Ndubueze scrambling for the ball in the box. Ndubueze's co-captain Gregoire Diep stepped to the penalty spot and converted the penalty to tie the game at one-apiece.

For the remainder of the first half, Azusa Pacific continued to dominate possession but couldn't quite come up with the go-ahead goal. The Eagles tested Fix twice more in the half but the Cougar goalkeeper made a pair of comfortable saves to keep the game tied at the break.

20 minutes into the second half, Kwinn won a free kick for his team just a foot outside the penalty area that resulted in a Isaac Zausch yellow card. Known for his free-kick prowess, Diep once again found the top corner with a dipping strike that went over the wall and into the back of the net. It was Diep's second brace of the season and tied him for the team-lead in goals scored with six for the time-being.

But in the 69th minute, the Eagles fought back earning another penalty in the box that this time resulted in a Diep yellow card. Once again, Le Calve stepped up to the spot and his cheeky chip effort clanged off the crossbar and just snuck over the line to tie the game at two-all. Despite both sides having golden opportunities to breakthrough before regulation came to a close, neither team was clinical enough and didn't take advantage in the final third keeping the game tied after 90 minutes.

Just 20 seconds into overtime, the Cougars struck quickly as Ndubueze whipped in an early cross that saw Kwinn just beat the Biola goalkeeper to it with his head finding the back of the net for his team-high fourth game-winning goal of the season. It was Kwinn's second overtime winner, the first coming in the opening game of the season against Simon Fraser.

By the Numbers: In the game, the Cougars outshot the Eagles 10-8 in the first half but Biola returned the favor in the second half outshooting the Cougars 9-4. The Eagles forced Fix to make a game-high four saves on the night. For the first time this season, the Cougars were featured in a game that saw three different lead changes. During Azusa Pacific three-year reign in the PacWest, the Cougars are unbeaten in overtime games holding a 6-0-3 record while Kwinn has scored half of the overtime winners over that span. Azusa Pacific became the second team in PacWest men's soccer history to win three consecutive PacWest titles with the win, Seattle Pacific also completed the feat back in 2000.



Up Next: The Cougars clinched the automatic qualifier for the NCAA Tournament which is set to begin next week. The NCAA regional brackets will be announced Monday, November 15th at 3:30 p.m. Tune into NCAA.com to find out who the Cougars will be playing in the NCAA DII Tournament this coming Monday.