ATHERTON, Calif. –  There's an old saying in soccer that 2-0 is the most dangerous lead you can have.  Unfortunately for the Cougars, there appears to be some truth to that as they surrendered three goals in six minutes to end up on the losing end of a 3-2 scoreline in their first-ever visit to Menlo College on Saturday afternoon.

How It Happened: The game saw an unusually long feeling-out process between the two sides, as the teams combined for only four shot attempts in the entire first half, with both keepers making the save the one time they were required to do so.  Just past the hour mark, the Cougars broke through, with Raul Lavado cracking the lid on the net with his second goal of the season.

Once that goal was scored, the game got particularly physical, and the referees handed the Cougars a pair of yellow cards just two minutes apart.  But in the 71st minute, Brian Torres got loose and fed Andrew Gomez for what looked like an insurance goal.  Gomez's fourth tally of the season put the Cougars up by that infamous 2-0 score with just under 20 minutes remaining.  But that's when Menlo cranked the pressure up to a boil.  Less than two minutes after the Cougars scored, Menlo answered off a corner kick, cutting the lead in half.  Two minutes after that the Cougars picked up a red card, reducing them to 10 men for the rest of the game.  Just ninety seconds later, Menlo equalized.  And only two and a half minutes after that, another header off a corner kick provided the Oaks with the winning goal.

By the Numbers: The Cougars were outshot 12-8 for the game, with the Oaks putting 8 shots on target to the Cougars' 4.  Azusa Pacific goalkeeper Alexis Rodriguez made 5 saves in a losing effort.  Menlo had 7 corner kicks in the second half alone, and 9 for the game.  Menlo evened the all-time series with the Cougars at 1-1.  Azusa Pacific's win came at home back in 2005.

Up Next: Azusa Pacific (4-8-2, 3-4-2 PacWest) have two games remaining, both in the season and on their Northern California road trip.  Next on the docket is a trip to Academy of Art, with kickoff set for 11:00 a.m. on Monday.