A 5-1 victory against Hawai’i Pacific keeps the Cougars undefeated so far this season
Azusa Pacific’s men’s soccer team stayed undefeated after a strong 5-1 victory over Hawai’i Pacific on Saturday.
The Cougars’ perfect 12-0-0 record to begin their season is something this program hasn’t had since their 14-0-0 start in 2007. This has led APU to a first-place ranking in the official NCAA Division II Men’s Soccer Rankings. The Cougars have put together a goal differential of +27, with 10 different players on the roster scoring at least one goal, and the defense notching a total of six shutouts.
Expectations are incredibly high for this squad, which is why when the scoreboard showed a 1-1 tie at the end of the first 45 minutes, the team was very frustrated. HPU opened the scoring in the first two minutes after Gerrit Arzberger tallied his seventh goal of the season. This ended the Cougars’ streak of five consecutive shutouts.
Nevertheless, the Cougars evened it up at the 15-minute mark after David Kwinn struck a ball perfectly above HPU keeper Jeremy Zielenski. Despite APU outshooting their opponents 10-1 in the first half, they were unable to secure another goal, and the score was even at halftime.
The trend of the first half was the Cougars being unable to take advantage of HPU’s defensive breakdowns. Head coach David Blomquist clearly noticed this, and he, along with his team, made the proper adjustments in the second half.
Striker James Ndubueze gave APU their first lead of the game in the 59th minute, scoring his 10th goal of the season after precisely kicking the ball near the bottom left of the net. From this moment on, it was all APU.
Another goal, this time scored by defensive player Jesse Echeverria, gave APU a 3-1 lead just a minute after Ndubueze’s strike. Within the next twenty minutes, the Cougars doubled their lead after a goal from both Daniel Osei-Tutu and Leo Tomasi. When the final whistle blew, the Cougars left with a 5-1 victory, and their unbeaten streak remained intact.
With yet another dominant victory in their arsenal, one in which they outshot their opponent 25-3, APU will continue their season with three straight home games. As of now, the story of a possible undefeated season is easily one of the most exciting and enticing storylines for APU athletics. Can they continue their impressive streak and produce the program’s first perfect regular season? Only time will tell.
The team’s journey will continue on Monday, Oct. 28 against Hawai’i Hilo at the Cougar Soccer Complex at 7:30 p.m.