AZUSA, CALIF - Azusa Pacific men's rounded out their pre-season schedule against Point Loma tonight where head coach Dave Blomquist's team battled against coach Phil Wolf and his Sea Lions. The Cougars were entering this matchup coming off four straight losses with a record of 2-4-1 and were looking to rebound before entering PacWest play next week, but Point Loma got the better of the Cougars and the Saturday night matchup ended in one goal to nil. 

How It Happened: The Cougars starting XI had to play from behind for most of the first half after a rebound penalty was put in from the Sea Lions penalty taker in the 14th minute. Goalkeeper Leo Moreno made a terrific diving save to his right initially, but with a favorable bounce falling to the penalty taker, Point Loma was able to get out in front and take a 1-0 advantage. Azusa Pacific started out trying to attack from the get go after only scoring one goal in their last four. However, the penalty kick allowed for a change of tactics for both teams and Sea Lions controlled much of the first 45. 

Juancarlos Rodriguez showed great efforts from the left-wingback position, while Joseph Macpherson also showed his strength in the holding midfield position for the entirety of the match. Moreno came up with some great saves and kept it as close as he could but things did not fall the Cougars way tonight. Coach Blomquist credited Point Loma's dictation and dominance in the first half. 

By the Numbers:  In what was a fairly physical match, there were a total of six yellow cards in the game with each team being evenly carded at three a piece. Azusa Pacific was outshot by the Sea Lions by 16 to three and only had one shot on goal to Point Loma's 10. 

Quotable: "We started the game defensively very sound, although Point Loma was dictating play, we held strong and were unfortunate for the penalty." said Blomquist. When asked about the run in form he was still hopeful, "we just have to wipe these games away.. It is a clean slate now and we have to get results in the PacWest."

Up Next: The Cougars will open their PacWest schedule on Friday, September 30th against Concordia at the Cougar Soccer Complex. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m., and if you cannot attend the game, you can watch it for free HERE.