AZUSA, Calif. – Dominican men's soccer team was unable to connect against conference-leader Azusa Pacific Thursday night, falling 4-0 in Dominican's first game of their Southern California road trip.

Dominican (5-5-2, 2-2-1 PacWest) managed only three shots on goal, including shot attempts from Brendan Adame, Wilson Briggs and Diego Vasquez. Senior goalkeeper William Finnie (3-3-2) finished the match with four saves.

The Cougars (9-1-1, 4-0 PacWest) were led by Justin Glaser, connecting for his first goal of the season, and James Ndubueze, who placed his sixth goal of the year in the back of the net. Gabriel Costa and Aleksan Pumpalovic each added a goal on penalty kicks, as Dominican committed costly fouls deep in their own box in the second half. Goalkeeper Brendan Fix (6-1) walked away with three saves for the shutout win.

To start the first half APU attacked early with consecutive looks by Isaac Bawa, Costa, and Ndubueze, but Finnie was there to break up the attempts. The Cougars wwere the first on the scoreboard, as Costa found Glaser on the left edge for a shot inside the far post for his first goal of the season. APU again pressed Dominican into their own third and Ndubueze intercepted a pass intended for the center back, and beat Finnie for his sixth goal of the season. The Cougars held the 2-0 advantage heading into the half.

APU began the second half with a cross inside to Callum Wallace as he slipped through the defense for a shot, only to find Finnie ready for the save. Dominican's Dylan Finley created an opportunity of his own, as he attacked from outside of the box, but missed just wide. The Cougars found another opening in the Penguin defense, forcing a one-on-one between Costa and Finnie, as Costa drew a penalty kick. Costa put it home for his 11th goal of the season. APU continued to pressure Dominican's defense, containing the Penguins to their own third of the field for majority of the second half.

Dominican found itself defending against another penalty kick in the 59th minute as the Penguins committed a foul in the box. Pumpalovic recorded his first goal of the season on the penalty kick, giving Azusa a 4-0 lead. The Penguins had few opportunities in the second half, but were unable to connect in the box, falling to the Cougars 4-0.

Dominican will look for a quick turn-around as it continues its Southern California road trip with an 11:30 a.m. PDT matchup at Point Loma on Saturday. Live video and stats will be available online.