LOS ANGELES, Calif. — No. 7 ranked Azusa Pacific men's soccer was unable to continue its perfect 32-game regular season win streak, but remained unbeaten after a nil-nil double overtime draw Friday evening with Cal State Los Angeles. The Cougars battled a tough CCAA opponent tonight in a game where each team had chances to breakthrough but couldn't quite capitalize. This happened to be the second overtime game for each team as the Cougars won their home opener in overtime over Simon Fraser and the Golden Eagles lost to Simon Fraser in overtime in their opener.
How it Happened: The Cougars created few quality chances in the opening 45 minutes as they were held scoreless and kept off guard by the Golden Eagles' offside trap that saw Azusa Pacific called offside five separate times in the opening half.
But the Cougars began to take over the game in the second half, in the 60th minute
Joseph Macpherson and
Gregoire Diep's shots were both blocked off of an Azusa Pacific corner and despite cries from the Cougars' bench for a handball they were both dismissed by the referee. The Cougars continued to apply pressure eventually resulting in on of their best chances of the night. In the 72nd minute, after Azusa Pacific's original corner was partially cleared, defender
Leo Tomasi curled one back inside the box that met
Fritz Oestreicher's head only to be stopped on a diving save by Cal State Los Angeles goalkeeper Alvaro Unanua that kept the game scoreless.
In the 77th minute, one of four shots from Diep was saved by Unanua pretty easily while
David Kwinn had a chance to be the hero in the 81st minute but his attempt just sailed over the bar.
Throughout the overtime periods, both teams created chances but none greater than an
Orlando Lozano strike in the 109th minute that was inches from being the golden goal for Azusa Pacific. Lozano was subbed on for a Cougar corner but found himself with a shot inside the 18-yard box on the half-volley that one-hopped the woodwork and stayed out of the net.
By the Numbers: The Cougars improved their
unbeaten regular season streak to 33 games, despite snapping their 32-game regular season
win streak. Azusa Pacific had a 16-8 advantage in shots throughout this game, including a 7-1 edge in the second half.
History: The Cougars were the number one team in the west region in 2019 while Cal State LA was the second seed and the Golden Eagles ran the table all the way to the national championship where they eventual fell to Charlestown 2-0. The two programs last met in 2018 when the Cougars edged the Golden Eagles, 1-0, in overtime in an NCAA Division II playoff game in Azusa.
Up Next: Azusa Pacific will take on another CCAA opponent in Cal Poly Pomona next Wednesday, September 15th. Kick-off is set for 7:30 p.m. at the Cougar Soccer Complex in Azusa, Calif.
