AZUSA, Calif. – A first-half barrage left nothing to doubt down the stretch as Azusa Pacific earned its first men's soccer win as a member of Division III, defeating former GSAC rival Hope International by a 5-2 final Friday evening inside the Cougar Soccer Complex.
The onslaught started right at the 10-minute mark. Leke Ademola threw the ball in from the attacking third to Ivan Vitela in the box, and his left-footed cross on the ground found Joshua Lugo, who got just enough on the ball to slip it into the bottom right corner for the Cougars' first goal of the season.
In the 27th minute, the ball worked its way ahead to Ademola in an odd-man rush. The grad student charged down the right wing into the box and saw his shot clang off the left post, but the rebound bounced into perfect position for Vitela to head it in and double the lead.
As the first half entered its closing stretch, sophomore midfielder Jeremiah Botros decided to put his stamp on the game. First, he slid into the six-yard box to tap in a cross from Ademola very similar to the Cougars' first goal of the evening. Then with just over a minute left in the first half, he ran onto a long ball over the top from Easton Jara and fired a low ball past the keeper to make it 4-0 at the half.
The visiting Royals pulled a goal back 12 minutes into the second, but just 5 minutes after that, the Cougars answered as Jara tallied his second assist of the game, sending a cross in from the right edge of the box for Gabe Schock to head in for his first of the season. Hope International would find the back of the net once more in the 72nd minute, but that was as close as they would get.
The Royals outshot the Cougars 15-12 for the game and had a 9-2 advantage in corner kicks, but the Cougars still did more than enough to secure their 20th win over the Royals in 22 all-time matches. Alexis Rodriguez made four saves in the win.
Now 1-1 on the season, Azusa Pacific will turn their attention to a day game on Labor Day when they host Lewis & Clark at the Cougar Soccer Complex. Kickoff on Monday is set for 11:00 a.m.
