IRVINE, Calif. — On Friday afternoon, Azusa Pacific fell to Concordia, 8-7, in their first conference game of the season. The Cougars are now 6-9 overall and 0-1 in the Golden Coast Conference.
The Cougars' scoring leader, Milena Guzman Ortiz scored three goals against the Eagles giving her a total of 40 goals across the team's 15 games so far. While goalkeeper Olivia Lott tallied 11 saves and three assists.
True Freshman, Montana White, also scored her thirteenth goal of the season after returning to the lineup after finishing with All-American status in the 200 Free at the NCAA Swim & Dive National Championships last week.
Lauren Hoyle, Shyanne Rainey, and Grace Pugh each picked up a goal a-piece.
How it Happened: White took the sprint but neither team was able to score for the first few minutes. After Concordia received an exclusion, the Cougars were able to capitalize on the one man advantage as Rainey found the back of the net with 2:16 left in the period.
With 37 seconds left of the period, the Cougars turned the ball over leading to a goal by Concordia tying the game up 1-1.
In the second period, Concordia found the net early scoring within the first 30 seconds and once again at the 4:45 mark to take the 3-1 lead.
A few minutes later, Ortiz found the back of the net for her first goal of the game after being set up by Lott. Just a few seconds later, the Eagles responded with a goal of their own to take the 4-2 lead with 3:52 left in the half.
White was able to force a Concordia turnover and Lott set up another goal for Ortiz to keep the Cougars within 1. With six seconds left, White was able to tie up the game with a goal of her own after another assist from Lott.
Two minutes into the second half, the Eagles scored on a powerplay to take the lead after White was called for an exclusion.
Once again, the Cougars were able to tie up the game 5-5 as Ortiz scored her 40th goal of the season.
At the 2:38 mark in the third period, Concordia was called for another exclusion which set up the prime opportunity for the Cougars to take the lead. Grace Pugh was able to capitalize on the man advantage and Azusa Pacific took the lead for the first time since the beginning of the game.
Scoring the last goal of the period, Hoyle found the back of the net at the 1:26 mark, increasing the Cougars lead to 7-5. The Cougars outscored the Eagles 3-1 in the third period.
In an attempt to comeback, the Eagles, were able to find the back of the net after nearly 8 minutes within scoring. At 4:51, the Cougars were called for a penalty foul and the Eagles were able to tie up the game at 7-apiece after scoring on the five-meter penalty shot. The Eagles would take the lead with just under four minutes left in the game and the Cougars were unable to tie it up despite a trio of shots down the stretch.
By the Numbers: Azusa Pacific went 3-1 in the sprints. Montana White went 2-1 giving her an overall 14-5 record and Maria Boix Pascul went 1-0 to give her a 3-2 record. Both Azusa Pacific and Concordia had 21 shots on goal. Concordia picked up 12 saves and between Kate Green-Jones and Lott, the Cougars picked up 11 saves giving them 166 saves between the two goalies. Jones now has 106 saves and Lott has 60 across the past 15 games.
Up Next: Tomorrow, Saturday, March 19th, the Cougars will turn around and face-off against the University of Pacific for their second game of conference play. The game is scheduled to start at 10:00 a.m. and will take place at Glendora High School.
