Since Oct. 4, 2014, Azusa Pacific women’s soccer has allowed two goals. Two. Since then, the Cougars are 13-1-1.
This year the Cougars are 5-0 and are ranked 17th in the NSCAA Coaches Poll.
They started on the road, taking down Stanislaus State 1-1 who were ranked 10th at the time. Azusa Pacific followed that up with a 2-0 win over Cal State East Bay. The squad opened their home slate with a 1-0 win over UC San Diego.
The Cougars notched another ranked win over No. 14 Cal State L.A. to close the nonconference schedule. Azusa Pacific won their conference opener over Dixie State 4-1 to improve their record to its current mark at 5-0.
“We’ve had a real competitive program for a lot of years [and] we won the conference two years ago,” head coach Jason Surrell said. “My expectation is for us to always be at the top fighting for a conference championship.”
The team tied for third in the PacWest last year at 8-3-1.
“The difference between last year’s team and this year’s is certainly the depth,” Surrell added. “A lot of times we put subs on and the quality of play gets better because they’re fresh.”
The Cougars have the best defense in the PacWest, allowing just .200 goals per game. That mark is good for third nationally.
Offensively the Cougars are led by senior Mayra Almazan and junior Katelyn Rodgers. Almazan, the 2013 PacWest player of the year, has led the Cougars in scoring the past two years.
This year she has one goal and three assists while Rodgers has exploded with four goals.
Surrell appreciates the luxury of having the pair and says these players “have the ability to create their own shot.”
The Cougars have high hopes as they move into their conference schedule.
“We don’t want to know when our last practice is,” said senior midfielder Cassidy Burr. “I want to be at my last practice fighting to get better for our next game.” Almazan took it a step further, saying, “I want to win my last game.”
The seniors are looking to leave a legacy both at Azusa Pacific and for the PacWest.
“However this year ends up, we want to do better than any PacWest team has done in playoffs,” said Almazan. “Our conference doesn’t have a lot of respect, so we want to do something to gain a little more respect for our conference.”
As for their No. 17 ranking, “We have 16 more spots to go,” said Burr.