AZUSA, Calif. – The fans at the Cougar Soccer Complex were treated to a thrilling, wide-open contest on Wednesday evening, as Azusa Pacific and Westmont fought to a 3-3 tie.  The game saw the lead change hands three times, including three goals in the final 12 minutes.

Azusa Pacific struck first right at the 20-minute mark. Sohei Matsumori found Luis Solis in the midfield, who sent a beautiful ball through the middle of the Warrior's back line to Leke Ademola near the top of the box.  The forward took a perfect first touch to split the defenders, then beat the keeper to the bottom right corner to put the home team ahead 1-0.  Westmont would equalize just a few minutes before halftime to send the teams back to their benches level on the evening.

The Warriors claimed their first lead of the evening early in the second half, and the Cougars started pressing forward in search of a tying goal.  In the 78th minute, that search finally bore fruit as Kaleb Abara sent a high-arcing ball into the box, where Mario Shuteriqui got his head onto it and tucked it inside the right post to tie the game again.

Just two minutes after that, the Cougars capitalized again.  Osmin Carranza got the ball in the corner off a throw in, and drove along to baseline into the box.  He chipped a ball over to Raul Lavado, who chested it down and fired a shot that beat the keeper through the five hole to put Azusa Pacific back in front.  But Westmont was able to win a penalty kick with three minutes remaining, and the conversion tied the score for the third and final time on the day.

Inside the Box Score: 

• Westmont narrowly outshot Azusa Pacific 11-10
• Both teams were credited with 7 shots on goal in the game, meaning each keeper made 4 saves
• Azusa Pacific earned 6 corner kicks in the match
• Ademola's goal was his team-leading 6th of the season, while Lavado became the 10th different Cougar to find the back of the net in 2025
• Westmont leads the all-time series 29-16-8, with tonight's game the 4th tie between the schools in their last 6 meetings.

Up Next: While no longer perfect in conference play, the Cougars (4-5-2, 3-0-1 PacWest) will put a five-game unbeaten streak on the line Saturday when they head south to Irvine to take on Concordia. Kickoff against the Golden Eagles is set for 6:30 p.m.