Five goals from five different players led Azusa Pacific’s women’s soccer team (7-1-1, 5-0-1) to victory Saturday, beating the Chaminade Silverswords 5-0. The win makes it four straight for the Cougars, all of which are shutouts at home.

Offensive chances came easy for the Cougars, who fired 41 total shots in the game and 17 shots on goal. The offensive barrage began when junior midfielder/forward Shannon Hardy attacked down the left side and sent a cross far side to her sister, junior forward Amanda Hardy, as she chipped it in past the goal keeper for the first goal of the game. This was Amanda’s second goal of the season.

The two keys to the Cougars’ dominance were possession and ball movement. The Cougars won a lot of balls and kept possession the majority of the time while they moved the ball very well on offense and found an abundance of scoring opportunities.

“We were mentally prepared tonight. We came out with a good focus and we knew we needed to be sharp passing the ball and playing quick and keeping possession of it, and I think we did a good job of possessing the ball tonight,” head coach Jason Surrell said.

Twenty-three minutes after the Hardy goal, sophomore midfielder Mayra Almazan received a pass just outside of the box and sent a cross to freshman Lindsey Ryals on the left side. Ryals then bent a shot into the far upper corner for the second goal. The third goal was off a free kick from Almazan that she bent around Chaminade’s defensive line, past the goal keeper and into the net.

The Cougars continued to attack but did not score again for 36 minutes.

Nearly the entire Cougar roster saw the field, which is unusual compared to the normal three or four subs that are rotated in and out of the game. Sophomore forward Reade Tillman and freshman forward Stephanie Lossau both scored their first goals of the year. With nearly all of the bench players seeing the field, the Cougars had a great all-around performance.

“I think that’s the good thing about our team this year, it is so balanced offensively,” Surrell said. “I think in years past, we relied heavily on one or two players, but this year, there’s a good balance and you never knew who’s going to get it done.”

The Cougars have not allowed a goal in 425 consecutive minutes of play. Chaminade has been struggling to put the ball in the net this season, only scoring in two of eight games so far. The Cougars’ back four took advantage of this and shut out the Silverswords, holding them to nine shots. This win was the Cougars’ fifth shutout of the year, adding to a reputation as one of the conference’s best defenses.

“Our defense was great, and that’s kind of typical. The defense is always solid,” Surrell said. “That doesn’t mean we’re going to have shutouts all the time, but we know we’re going to play tough defensively. They came through again and the reality was we got a lot of subs out there too and they did well. They understand the defensive scheme of what we’re doing.”

After a two-week break, the Cougars will begin a four-game road trip. Their first game will be against Dixie State (4-4-2, 4-2-1), set for an early, 10 a.m. game on Saturday, Oct. 19. Five of the Cougars’ six remaining games are on the road.