Santa Barbara, Calif. - Azusa Pacific is back in the winning column after defeating Westmont 2-1, serving the Warriors their first loss of the season. 

"Today was a great team win, which we knew was what it was going to take" said head coach Dave Blomquist. "Westmont is a tough team and we needed to match that toughness. We had some spells of really good play and scored two really nice goals, and then we were able to show a lot of determination to see out the victory."

How it Happened: All three goals were scored in the first 45 minutes of play, with the Cougars striking first. In the 11th minute, Raul Lavado picked off a Westmont midfielder and played a through ball to Andrew Gomez. Gomez beat his defender and sent in a shot forcing the Warriors' goalkeeper to go to ground to make the save. The ball deflected off the keeper's hand back into play and landed at the feet of Luis Solis who sent a one-time shot back at the goal that sailed into the back of the net, giving the Cougars an early lead.

Just a little over ten minutes later the Cougars doubled their lead. Lavado went on a 60-yard run, dribbling past Westmont's entire backline before getting a shot off inside the penalty box that soared past the Westmont keeper and put Azusa Pacific up 2-0. 

The Warriors responded four minutes later in the 26th minute, converting a free kick opportunity to cut the deficit in half, but the Cougars held on to their 2-1 lead for the remaining 64 minutes.

By the Numbers: Azusa Pacific had eight shots with five on goal, while the Warriors took 16 shots with four on goal. It was a physical match, as nine yellow cards were shown and the two teams combined for 31 fouls. Nine Cougars saw minutes off the bench.

Up Next: The Cougars return to the Cougar Soccer Complex on Wednesday, Oct. 9 to face Point Loma. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.