SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The Cougars excellent first half went awry down the stretch Saturday afternoon, having to hold on for a 2-2 draw at Westmont College despite leading by two goals at halftime. Avery Guiel collected the first goal of her Azusa Pacific career, while Aubrey Dunaway earned her fifth goal of the season. 

"Two class finishes in the first half. It was great to see Avery get the goal" said head coach Brooke Lincoln. "But we got outplayed for 65 minutes of the match and never controlled tempo in the second half. Westmont deserved the result." 

How It Happened:  Azusa Pacific got itself onto the scoreboard early.  Just 11 minutes into the contest, a cross in from the right flank found Bethany Tee, who laid the ball off for Nora Oldmark. Oldmark's right-footed pass made its way to Guiel at the top of the box, and she tucked the ball inside the left post for her first goal of the season and a 1-0 lead.

Just before the half hour mark, the Cougars were able to double their advantage on the counterattack.  A misplaced Warriors pass went right to the feet of Rilee Bradbury, who sprung Angela Cipriano over the middle.  Cipriano drew the defenders in, then laid a ground ball onto the right flank in the box for Dunaway, who slammed a one-timer into the upper right hand corner to make the score 2-0.

Alas, the lead would not hold, as Westmont would pull a goal back in the 62nd minute and kept the pressure on for much of the second half, eventually drawing equal on a header with less than four minutes remaining.

By the Numbers:  Guiel had a game-high four shots, including two on target. Maddie Williams came up with six saves in goal, including five in the second half.  The Cougar defensive line also managed to catch Westmont offsides on five occasions, four of them coming after intermission.  This was the second tie between Azusa Pacific and Westmont this season, having played a scoreless draw in Azusa three weeks ago.

Up Next:  Azusa Pacific (5-4-3, 2-1-1 PacWest) return home for their next contest when they take on Concordia Thursday night at 7:30 p.m.  The match can be live streamed HERE.