AZUSA, CA. - The #7 seed FPU men's soccer team were edged by the #2 seed Azusa Pacific 2-1 in a first round GSAC tournament matchup. An 80th minute goal by Cougar's Dana Yoshizu proved to be the deciding factor as #9 ranked APU defeat the Sunbirds and advance to the conference tournament semi-final match.
The Cougars made an early statement to open the game by scoring in the 3rd minute off a Vini Dantas strike to take the 1-0 lead.
Not to be outdone, the Sunbirds equalized in the 11th minute when Rodrigo Vianna Ferreira netted his 14th goal of the season to even it at one apiece.
The first half would end that way with FPU tallying 5 shots to APU's 10, and the Cougar's with a 5-0 edge in corners kicks.
The Cougars picked up the pace even more in the second half of play, firing off 11 shots to FPU's 1, and added 2 more corners to the Sunbirds 0.
Yoshizu's game-deciding goal with 10 minutes left to play gave the Cougars the late advantage, and ultimately the win.
Despite the loss, the Sunbirds will continue post season play having received an automatic birth for hosting the 2009 NAIA National Tournament. The Tournament will take place November 30th - December 5th, 2009 and will be played at FPU's Ramirez Field.
"Going into the National Tournament, it was nice to see our goalkeeper Tim Nightingale have such a strong performance and make some quality big-time saves," complimeted FPU head coach Jaime Ramirez. "He really showed that he has come of age and played like a veteran today."