AZUSA, CALIF - The No. 20 ranked Azusa Pacific men's soccer squad fell to No. 1 Cal State Los Angeles at the Cougar Soccer Complex on Saturday evening. The Cougars attempted to rally in the second half when Fritz Oestreicher scored his first goal of the season, and first in a Cougar uniform to narrow the Golden Eagles lead, but Cal State Los Angeles held Azusa Pacific to a 3-1 final. Gregoire Diep collected his first assist of the 2022 season and 11th of his career, while Leo Moreno put up a season-high six saves. 

How it Happened - A steady first half of play kept the Cougars and Golden Eagles knotted at 0-0 for a majority of the first 45 minutes. With Cal State Los Angeles finding their presence on their attacking half, they collected five shots on goal through 42 minutes of play, but Leo Moreno made five saves, including two outstanding ones in the 15th minute of play. Despite a strong presence on the backline for the Cougars and keeping control of the ball while utilizing a passing game, the Golden Eagles found the back of the net in the 43rd minute of play, when they capitalized on an opportunity off a corner kick to lead 1-0 heading into the second half. 

Cal State Los Angeles was off to a quick start in the last 45 minutes, doubling their lead in the 49th minute of play to go up 2-0. In the 63rd minute, the Cougars saw an opportunity driving down their attacking half, but a shot from Luis Solis was blocked by the Golden Eagles goalie. In the 68th minute, Cal State Los Angeles found the back of the net again to take a 3-0 lead. Azusa Pacific continued to press and create opportunities, and in the 79th minute the Cougars saw their best opportunity of the game. A perfectly placed ball by Diep in the box set up a header by Oestreicher that found it's way between the posts to cut the lead down to 3-1. This was as much as the Cougars could put together despite a competitive effort against the No. 1 team in the nation. 

Up Next: Azusa Pacific will be back at the Cougar Soccer Complex on Friday, September 16th to face Cal State San Bernardino with a scheduled kickoff for 7:30 p.m. If you cannot attend, you can watch the live stream for free HERE.