AZUSA, Calif. – Hawai'i Pacific University scored in the second minute of the game, but top-ranked Azusa Pacific used a strong second half to win the PacWest Conference contest 5-1 at the Cougar Soccer Complex.
 
The Sharks (4-5-2, 2-3-1) had a hard time against the No. 1 Cougars (12-0, 5-0) who dominated on both sides of the ball.
 
The Sharks scored on their first shot of the game as senior Gerrit Arzberger of Munich, Germany took a feed from senior Zen Roten of Palos Verdes, Calif./Palos Verdes for a one-timer to take a 1-0 advantage in the second minute of the game.
 
However, that was one of the three shots that HPU could fire – and the only one on goal as APU goal keeper Nathanael Linquist did not record a save against the one goal allowed.
 
The Cougars blasted 25 shots against HPU junior goalkeeper Jeremy Zielinski of Sunnyvale, Calif./Homestead, who collected seven saves against five goals.
 
The Cougars evened the match at 1-1 in the 16th minute on a goal by David Kwinn from Danillo Dias. The game stayed at 1-1 through halftime.
 
Azusa Pacific kicked it into gear in the 60th minute when James Ndubueze scored his 10th goal of the year off a feed from Orlando Lozano for the 2-1 lead.
 
Just a minute later APU made it 3-1 on Jesse Echeverria's goal from Arturo Astorga in the 61st minute.
 
The Cougars rolled on in the 71st minute with an unassisted goal from Daniel Osei-tutu and finished the barrage in the 81st minute on a goal from Gregoire Diep from Leo Tomasi for the 5-1 win.
 
HPU won't have long to worry about the loss to the top ranked team as they continue to the second game of their southern California road trip by visiting Biola on Monday. Kickoff is at 4 p.m. HST (7 p.m. PDT) at Al Barbour Field.