AZUSA, Calif. -- Facing its first ranked opponent of the season, the NAIA’s No. 4-ranked Azusa Pacific used an early defensive lift from senior Julie Fletcher and a pair of goals from sophomore Bridget Brotherton to hold off No. 9-ranked Carroll (Mont.) in a 2-0 Cougar victory at Azusa Square.
"We needed this game," said Azusa Pacific head coach Jason Surrell, who yesterday celebrated his 100th career coaching victory. "Carroll was a hard-working, athletic team, and we were challenged for 90 minutes."
In the sixth minute, Cougar goalkeeper Jill Colfer was unable to secure a ball near the goal line, and Carroll’s Valerie Feltz bounced a shot toward the empty net. Fletcher cleared the ball off the goal line to another Carroll player, who fired a shot directly back to Fletcher, who cleared it again to keep the Fighting Saints off the scoreboard.
"We were lucky they did not shoot it on frame or it would have been a goal," said Fletcher, who stayed in position to defend against the rebound. "I knew she would shoot it again, but not right to me. I was ready for anything they would do."
In the 36th minute, Brotherton fielded a throw-in from freshman Theresa Broad in space just outside the box, and curled a perfect right-footed strike past the outstretched keeper into the upper corner of the goal to give the Cougars a 1-0 lead.
"When I turned the ball, I saw space in front of me, and I just tried to place the ball far post," said Brotherton. "I didn’t know if it would go in at first, but when I saw it move up past the goalkeeper, I knew it was in."
Brotherton added an insurance goal for the Cougars in the 71st minute, dribbling through midfield and lofting a long shot over the goalkeeper from 20 yards out for a 2-0 advantage.
"The keeper came out on me, and I just tried to chip it over her," said Brotherton, 1 of 6 different goal scorers for an Azusa Pacific team that has scored 11 goals in 4 games this season. "It took us awhile to get going today, but once we got momentum, the offense starts clicking."
Sophomore Sarah Yoro, a 2-goal scorer in yesterday’s 4-1 win over San Diego Christian, put 2 of her 4 shots on goal to help lead the Cougars’ 16-8 advantage in shots over Carroll. Azusa Pacific’s aggressive, physical defense held the Fighting Saints to just 2 shots in the second half.
"We work together great," said Fletcher of the Cougar defense that has surrendered just 1 goal on 19 shots through the season’s first 4 games. "If 1 player gets beat, we usually have 2 or 3 others right there to help. We know how to back each other up, and we are playing with a lot of confidence."
With the win, Azusa Pacific improves to 4-0 on the season heading into a pair of challenging games next weekend to wrap up nonconference play. The Cougars will meet No. 2-ranked Lee (Tenn.) and No. 7-ranked Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) in a pair of contests at Lee.
