AZUSA, Calif. -- Coming off of four straight victories, the Azusa Pacific women's soccer team had its streak snapped by a 2-0 defeat to No. 14 ranked Sonoma State Wednesday afternoon. The Cougars allowed a goal in each half for the first time this season and were shutout for just the second time this season in the loss.

"We're of course disappointed," head coach Brooke Lincoln said, "I think all of us saw this going differently today so we're all disappointed. But when we lost against Chico (State) the girls responded really well, I have no doubt this will be the same."

How it Happened: The Cougars and Seawolves went back and forth through the first 15 minutes of the match. Azusa Pacific controlled possession early on and created a pair of chances for Maddy Morrison and Randi Macadangdang but quality defending from Sonoma State's backline kept the Cougars from grabbing the lead. 

The momentum shifted towards the Seawolves in the 18th minute when the first goal of the game was scored by Lexi Zandonella-Arasa who beat goalkeeper Bella Hara to break the deadlock.

Sonoma State began to control the pace of the game after the goal creating their second best chance of the half in the 31st minute but Hara was able to tip the long range shot over the bar to keep the score at one-nil. The Seawolves outshot the Cougars 6-2 in the opening 45 minutes and led at the half.

In the second half, Cougars goalkeeper Maddie Williams came up with a save in the 51st minute before the Seawolves had a shot go off the woodwork in the 56nd minute. The Cougars responded with a chance of their own just a minute later but Macadangdang's shot was blocked for a corner. 

The Seawolves would double their lead in the 62nd minute when a pass beat the Cougars over the top creating a one-on-one for Alyssa Silva who buried Sonoma State's second goal into the back of the net.

Despite Azusa Pacific losing out on 55% of the possession in the first half, the Cougars were able to control most of the second half with 53% of the possession. Unfortunately, Azusa Pacific was unable to cash in on any opportunities to get back into the match ending in the game's two-nil result.

The Cougars finish nonconference play with a 5-2 overall record, the best in Lincoln's four-year tenure thus far and rivals the Cougars' start of 4-2-1 in nonconference in 2019. Azusa Pacific will look ahead to the PacWest schedule traveling to Hawai'i for a trio of PacWest games against Hawai'i Hilo (September 29), Hawai'i Pacific (October 2), and Chaminade (October 4).

"Overall we had a great nonconference play," Lincoln said, "We're not going to let this result disregard everything else that happened. We just told the girls that big time players show up in big time games and if you want to win a PacWest Championship every game moving forward is a big game. So, I'm looking forward to seeing how the girls respond, I think it'll be a good effort."

Quotable: "Hopefully our mentality (changes)," Lincoln said, "I think that it was the difference in today's match, it was two very even teams on the field. But you have to give credit to Sonoma (State). I told our girls they probably left their school at 5 a.m. took a flight this morning, walked into our place and dictated the play. That says a lot about their mentality, we had every opportunity to take advantage of the obstacles that were in Sonoma's way and we didn't do that."

Up Next: Azusa Pacific will take on Hawai'i Hilo on September 29th at 12:00pm Hawai'i Standard Time which is 3:00 p.m. Pacific Time. To follow along with live stats click here.