AZUSA, Calif. – Dominican men's soccer was unable to hold a two goal advantage in the second half as a furious comeback by APU handed the Cougars a 4-3 victory Thursday night at Cougar Soccer Field.
Dominican controlled the tempo early as they pressured multiple times until earning a corner kick in the 11th minute.
Ricky Maldonado took the corner and put it far post where
Brandon Selway got a piece of it to deflect it towards the net where it glanced off a defender before rolling into the netting for the 1-0 lead. The Penguins defense did a good job of limiting attempts by APU with the first real danger game in the 33rd minute as Diego Martinez sent in a ball from near midfield trying to catch
Colin Nestor sleeping but Nestor tracked the ball well and leapt to make the catch and keep the ball in front of him to prevent a goal. One minute later, some quick movement freed up the Cougars' Raul Lavado for a header inside the box, but Nestor was there once again to make the save.
With the Penguins leading in the second half, APU nearly found the equalizer in the 52nd minute as they stole the ball away at midfield and launched a quick counter freeing Mario Shuteriqi on the right side of the box, but his shot went wide of the far post. Dominican's
Sharod Williams made a good run into the right side of the box in the 59th minute and was taken down to earn a penalty for his team.
Norman Tellez stepped to the spot and sent the ball the opposite direction of the keeper inside the left post to take the 2-0 lead.
The Cougars got one back as a corner kick in the 71st minute found the front of the goal and amid chaos with several individuals getting a touch on it Joshua Lugo got the final tap that pushed the ball past the goal line to make it 2-1. It was another corner in the 81st minute that leveled the game as Steven Alvarenga put a ball near post where Ty Kerns waited to flick it on to the far post for the 2-2 tie. One minute later a handball in the box put Luis Solis at the spot and he converted to the center of the net to give APU the 3-2 lead. The Cougars kept pouring it on as Leke Ademola beat the keeper far post to double the lead. The Penguins finally regained their composure and
Anthony Stainer knocked home a rebound off a
Sergio Laguna shot to make it 4-3 with 30 seconds left in the game, but it was not enough time to get the equalizer.
Dominican will be back in action Saturday as it takes on Concordia at 2:30 p.m. PDT at Golden Eagles Field.
