AZUSA, Calif. – The Cougars closed out the home schedule with a bang, scoring at least five goals for the fifth time this season in a 5-0 shutout over Bethesda University.
Having honored the team's eight seniors before the game, the soon-to-be-graduates put on a show. Leke Ademola got things started in just the eighth minute, running onto a chip over the back line from Mario Shuteriqi and smashing it into the top of the net for a quick 1-0 lead.
Twelve minutes later, the Cougars earned a corner kick. Alex Gomez's crossing ball found the head of defender Nassim Nouajaa, and the senior directed the ball in for his first collegiate goal to double the advantage.
With eight minutes left in the first half, Jeremiah Botros sent another crossing ball in from the left edge of the box. It bounced once, then found a cutting Ademola who picked up a brace with his 18th goal of the season, which gave the home team a 3-0 lead heading into intermission.
Just 90 seconds into the second half, Shuteriqi tacked on a goal of his own, heading in a cross from Hamza Adam to increase the lead to four. And the final goal would come on a penalty kick in the 60th minute, the first collegiate goal for senior Alex Vidican, who was appearing in only his third game over the past three seasons due to injuries.
The Cougars put up 38 shot attempts, including 20 on target -- both second-most on the season behind their win over Life Pacific -- and had 11 corner kicks on the evening. Twelve different players registered a shot for the Cougars in the game. Alexis Rodriguez recorded two saves during his 78 minutes in net before Jacob Cristo played the final 12 to share credit for the shutout, the first for the Cougars since September 19th against Whittier.
Azusa Pacific (10-4-2) has won six games in a row, their longest winning streak since 2021. It is also the first time since 2021 that they have reached double digit wins in a season. The Cougars will look to tack on one more when they close out the regular season Saturday at UC Santa Cruz. Kickoff is set for 12:00 noon.
