Bryan Iotte provided the assist for Concordia's game-tying goal in the 68th minute.
Concordia Ties Top-Ranked Azusa Pacific
BEAVERTON, Ore.— Matched up against its second top-five program in the past week, the Concordia men’s soccer team nearly pulled off another upset.
After defeating No. 5 Simon Fraser 3-1 on Aug. 30, the Cavaliers ended a double-overtime affair against defending NAIA national champion and No. 1-ranked Azusa Pacific nodded at one goal each in action at the Far West Challenge held at the Nike World Campus.
With the tie, Concordia’s record stands at 2-2-1 while APU rests at 1-0-2. The Cougars tied Bethel (Tenn.) earlier in the season while defeating No. 8 Graceland (Iowa) for their lone win.
With limited shots in the opening period, the two squads enter the half in a scoreless match. Dana Yoshizu put Azusa Pacific on the board in the 51st minute with a 12-yard strike from the left side into the far post that escaped Concordia goalkeeper Garrett Staples’ reach.
The Cavs responded with Jon Larson recording a score in the 68th minute to even the match despite CU being outshot 9-to-5 in the second period. Resorting to first-period numbers, only two shots were attempted, one for each team, in the first overtime period while the defending champion Cougars connected for the single shot in the second 10-minute session.
"The guys really battled extremely hard today,” Concordia head coach Dan Birkey. “The fellas stayed on task and maintained their composure which gave us a couple of very solid chances to get the win in the final minutes of regulation. I felt it was ours for the taking."
Staples stopped five shots to preserve the tie for Concordia while James Crawford stopped three Cavalier chances as keeper for the Cougars.
Concordia returns to action on Saturday when it faces Westmont College at 1 p.m. Azusa Pacific will match up against Simon Fraser at 3:30 p.m. at the Nike Campus.