CLEVELAND, Tenn. -- After a grueling double-overtime win yesterday, the NAIA’s No. 2-ranked Azusa Pacific appeared headed to its first defeat of the season, trailing No. 4-ranked Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 1-0 with under 4 minutes to play. However, sophomore Bridget Brotherton headed in a corner kick from sophomore Karen Lawrence for the equalizer in the 87th minute, and just over a minute later, freshman Theresa Broad turned on her defender and buried the game-winner to the far post to give the Cougars a 2-1 victory over the Blue Raiders.
"We tried to rest up a little bit in the first half by waiting for counter-attack opportunities, and we gave up a goal on a corner kick that we just didn’t defend very well," said Cougar head coach Jason Surrell. "I was very happy to see that we never panicked and continued to play with confidence. We put a lot of pressure up front as the second half wore on, and I really thought we earned our result today."
The game was scoreless through the first 30 minutes until Lindsey Wilson struck in the 32nd minute, heading in the game’s first goal off a corner kick.
Brotherton, who also scored in yesterday’s 3-2 win over No. 6-ranked Lee (Tenn.) to give her a team-high 5 goals on the season, put 3 of her 4 shots on goal, as the Cougars worked to put together a 13-12 shots advantage.
With the win, Azusa Pacific improves to 6-0 on the season and runs its regular-season unbeaten streak to 26 games. The Cougars are also undefeated in 5 meetings with Lindsey Wilson (Ky.), all since 1998. Azusa Pacific kicks off the Golden State Athletic Conference schedule Sept. 26 at Azusa Square.
