Men's Soccer vs. Azusa Pacific

Sea Lions Play Well In Loss to Azusa Pacific

The Sea Lions fell to 0-3 in conference play after losing to the NAIA No. 2-ranked Azusa Pacific 2-0 Saturday, though it was one of the better matches that PLNU has played this season. The green and gold fought for 90 minutes and challenged every ball but the Cougars took advantage of a couple of opportunities to come away with the win.

The Sea Lions are now 1-7 overall. The Cougars improved to 3-0 in GSAC and 10-0 overall.

The loss is the fourth consecutive shutout for the Sea Lions, who have faced teams that head coach Tim Hall called the three of the toughest in the conference, if not the nation. All four teams that shut out PLNU were in the top-25 in the NAIA national rankings.

The Cougars out-shot the Sea Lions 19-7, including nine on goal for APU compared with four for PLNU.

The Sea Lions defense and keeper Eric Leboffe managed to fend off the Cougars for nearly 33 minutes before Azusa's Reid Baker found the net. APU managed two more shots before the halftime buzzer.

PLNU hung with the Cougars through nearly the entire second half. But Ashkon Banihashemi took advantage of a two-on-one play, fed by Dana Yoshizu, to make it 2-0 with slightly more than a minute on the clock. APU strolled through the final minute to defend its perfect record.

Eric Melendez led the Sea Lions offense with two shots on goal. Francois Furlan and Austin Fares each had one shot on goal. Leboffe saved seven would-be Azusa points, many of his saves were of the spectacular variety.

Vini Dantas led the Cougars offensive charge with three shots on goal, none of which got past Leboffe. Baker and Brett Taylor each fired two on goal. Keeper Tyler Stromberg got in front of all four of PLNU's attempts.

The Sea Lions get a break from the top-25 Wednesday, as PLNU hosts San Diego Christian College at 2 p.m.

-Nathan Scharn

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