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Azusa Pacific University Athletics

The Online Home of the Azusa Pacific Cougars
Ramirez, Zeri1 - 2026
Brady Ecklund
0
Azusa Pacific APU (7-2-2, 0-0-0)
1
Winner La Verne ULV (3-7-1, 2-4-0)
Azusa Pacific APU
(7-2-2, 0-0-0)
0
Final
1
La Verne ULV
(3-7-1, 2-4-0)
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Azusa Pacific APU 0 0 0
La Verne ULV 1 0 1

Game Recap: Women's Soccer |

The Cruelty of Soccer

LA VERNE, Calif. – The beautiful game of soccer has a cruel ugliness to it.  
Sometimes, through it finicky mood, it doesn't award the better play.

Despite dominating play for much of the match, Azusa Pacific suffered a 1-0 loss to the University of La Verne at Ortmayer Stadium, marking its second shutout defeat in the past eight days.

La Verne generated just 3 shots, placing only 1 on goal, but it proved enough to secure the victory. Natalie Kooba scored the decisive goal in the 42nd minute, sending a high-arching shot from 28 yards out over the out-stretched arm of Cougar keeper Paloma Platas. The goal stood as the match's lone score and helped the Leopards earn their first victory in 4 all-time meetings with Azusa Pacific.  

Adding to the Cougars' pain of the defeat was a possible tying goal in the final second that was waved off by the referee for crossing the goal line after time expired.

The result is a difficult one for the Cougars to stomach. Azusa Pacific outshot La Verne 24-3 and held an 8-2 advantage in corner kicks, but could not find an equalizer. Credit belonged in large part to Leopard goalkeeper Katy Blue, who recorded 11 saves in her first start of the season and posted the sixth shutout of her career.

The loss continued a puzzling offensive stretch for Azusa Pacific. One week after outshooting Pomona-Pitzer 12-5 in a 2-0 defeat, the Cougars once again controlled the run of play without being rewarded on the scoreboard. After scoring 18 goals in a 4-game stretch just two weeks ago, APU has managed just 2 goals over its past 4 contests.

Tonight the Cougars dictated play from the opening whistle, recording 3 shots in the first 4 minutes and appearing poised to duplicate their 2-0 victory over La Verne in the teams' season opener on Sept. 1 in Azusa.

Even after falling behind late in the first half, Azusa Pacific continued to press forward. The Cougars fired 18 second-half shots but were unable to solve Blue, who consistently came up with key saves to preserve the lead.

Senior Julia Galdamez led the attack with 8 shot attempts, while junior Isabella Santa Maria added 5. Lauren Grissom, the Cougars' leading scorer, joined the match after halftime following a class commitment and put 3 shots on target in the second half, but Blue denied each attempt.

With the loss, Azusa Pacific falls to 7-2-2 overall, while La Verne improves to 3-7-1.

The Cougars will look to reignite their offense on Saturday, Oct. 17, when they host Cal Lutheran, the 2023 NCAA Division III national champion, at 7 p.m. at the Cougar Soccer Complex.
 
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