Azusa Pacific University Athletics

As Dave Blomquist enters the 2026 season, his 17th season at the Cougar helm, he becomes the longest serving coach in program history and needs just 8 wins to become the winningest coach in Cougar soccer history.

As Azusa Pacific exited the Pacific West Conference, Blomquist departed as the dean of soccer coaches in the conference.  And with the Cougars moving into the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC), Blomquist arrives as second among conference coaches years served as a head coach (Chapman’s Eddie Carrillo is in his 30^th season).

In his tenure with the Cougars, Blomquist has led Azusa Pacific to some of its finest seasons.  From 2018-21, he fashioned a 3-year run unlike any other in PacWest history.  His Cougars went 47-6-3 on the field, which included a conference record 23-game winning streak (24 unbeaten), a No. 1 ranking in NCAA Division II, and 3 NCAA Tournament berths.  As a result, the honors came flowing.  Blomquist was named conference coach 3 times (4 for his career) and coached 5 different All-Americans in that 3-year span.  Joining his Assistant Coach Andriy Budnyy, Blomqust and his staff were named the DII West Region Coaching Staff of the year in 2019.

The 3-year run began in 2018, when Blomquist and the Cougars finished the regular season 16-1-1, winning 13 games in a row which included an 11-0-0 record in conference play to secure Blomquist's third PacWest championship and second conference Coach of the Year award. The Cougars hosted the West Regional where Blomquist won his first ever NCAA DII postseason game defeating Top-25 ranked Cal State LA, 2-1 in overtime. Azusa Pacific had 3 players receive NCAA DII All-American honors, 5 named NCAA DII All-West Region and 9 garner All-PacWest honors as the Cougars finished the season ranked No. 12 in the nation.

In 2019 when Blomquist and the Cougars finished the regular season with an impressive 18-0-0 record en route to winning Blomquist's fourth PacWest championship and holding onto the DII No. 1 ranking for six consecutive weeks to end the regular season. The Cougar's perfect regular season was the first in PacWest history. Blomquist was awarded his third PacWest Coach-of-the-Year honor, as Azusa Pacific had 3 players receive DII All-American honors, 5 get DII All-West Region nods, and 12 players named All-PacWest. APU finished the season ranked No. 11 ranked in the country.

After sitting out the 2020 campaign because of the worldwide pandemic, Blomquist and the Cougars picked up the 2021 season right where they left off to end the prior decade.  APU opened 5-1-2 and ran its PacWest unbeaten streak to a conference record 24 before Concordia ended the run with a 3-1 in Irvine.  The Cougars responded though by surrendering just 3 goals in their next 6 games to win another PacWest crown and earn a host site seed for the NCAA DII West Regional.

Blomquist coached standout defender Isaac Bawa, who was an All-American in both 2018 and 2019 and played professionally with the LA Galaxy II in the United Soccer League.

In Azusa Pacific's first season as an NCAA Division II member in 2014, Blomquist led the Cougars to a 14-3 overall record while winning the PacWest regular season outright with an 11-1 mark. The Cougars earned a host spot as the No. 2 seed for the NCAA DII West Region Tournament. They concluded the year ranked No. 19 in the nation with 7 players earning all-conference honors. For his outstanding efforts from the bench, Blomquist was named the PacWest Coach of the Year.

Blomquist guided the 2013 Cougars to a tie for first place in the Pacific West Conference standings with a 10-2 mark in league play, the fourth season in the five years his team  finished in the top-two of the conference standings. In 2012, the team's first year in the Pacific West Conference, Azusa Pacific went 10-4, and boasted a perfect 7-0 record at home in conference play.

After serving as an assistant coach on the Cougar staff for 2 years, Blomquist was named Azusa Pacific’s ninth head coach in the spring of 2009 after former NAIA Coach-of-the-Year Phil Wolf accepted a coaching assignment at SMU. Blomquist kept the Cougars rolling, going 45-12-4 in his first 3 seasons which included a pair of NAIA Tournament berths.

Quite familiar with NCAA Division III play and history, Blomquist was an accomplished player at Wheaton (Ill.) College from 1992-95, where he earned NCAA Division III All-American honors as a 1995 senior.  He played 1 year professionally as a teammate of Wolf on the Chicago Stingers. Blomquist was named the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) Player of the Year in 1995 after posting 13 goals and 2 assists. In his Wheaton career, Blomquist finished with 17 goals and 5 assists and was a 2-time All-CCIW first-team selection. In 2011 he was inducted into the Wheaton College Athletic Hall of Honor. 
Prior to joining Azusa Pacific, Blomquist spent the previous 8 years coaching in the San Diego area, most recently as the head coach at Santa Fe Christian School and the Rancho Santa Fe Attack club program. Blomquist was a co-founder and co-director of Coast 2 Coast Soccer Camps, a sports ministry soccer camp targeted for children ages 6-12.

Blomquist, a native of Granby, Conn., graduated from Wheaton with a bachelor’s degree in Biology and has a Master's in Sport Psychology from San Diego State.  He lives in Glendora, Calif., with wife Bethany, who he married on July 17, 2014. The Blomquists have 2 daughters, Emery and Stevie.

BLOMQUIST'S COLLEGIATE COACHING CAREER