A former APU Alum takes down the Lady Cougars in a gritty 0-1 match at home.
The Cougars hosted the Coyotes of Cal State San Bernardino this evening. Head Coach Brooke Lincoln’s side entered undefeated with two wins and two draws after their last match against Chico St. ended 2-2.
As for the Coyotes, Head Coach Mark Peter’s girls faced the Cougars with a record of two wins and two losses. The Coyotes entered the matchup having scored an impressive 16 goals in four games played.
The Cougars on the other hand have kept clean sheets in three out of four games, as it was truly shaping to be an even contest. This was just the Cougars’ second home game of the early season. Most notably a huge weather change when the start of the game was a perfect 74 degrees compared to the last home game where it was just over 100 degrees.
After 90 minutes of play, it was the Coyotes who came out of Azusa with the victory and Peters was fired up in getting a victory against the University that he used to play for.
The first half saw the Cougars hold possession for 57% of the time with three shots on goal. But, the first half ended 0-0 although could’ve been 1-1 if it wasn’t for some impressive saves from both team’s Goalkeepers APU’s Maddie Williams and CSUSB’s Carly Luna.
“In the first 15 minutes I felt that we should have put two away… and when you don’t put in the early chances they sometimes come back to bite you.” said Lincoln
The lack of energy in the attacking third allowed for the Coyotes to step up in the second half, as they got a goal in the 69th minute scored by Sofia Melgoza.
“I was a little disappointed in our attacking play tonight” said HC Lincoln, “it was sloppy.. It wasn’t as clean and crisp as it needed to be” added Lincoln.
Both teams ended the night with nine total shots, but it was truly the tactical adjustments and a change of mindset from CSUSB that found them finally cracking the code for the Cougars backline.
The APU Women’s team will now have a quick turnaround as they travel down the 57 FWY on Saturday to face Cal Poly Pomona (1-3-1) away.
Coach Lincoln had some thoughts when asked about the big three upcoming fixtures for her team, “these next three games are the hardest stretch in our schedule, playing at their (Cal Poly) place will be tough but for us it’s all about mindset and I expect it will change.”
After the away game on Saturday, the Cougars will be back at home on the 24th of September against Point Loma.