First up was Azusa pacific who came into the game ranked thirteen in the NAIA's preseason national poll. The game kicked off at 1.30pm with a clear sky and moderate temperature, a perfect day for soccer. Unfortunately the Hawks performance was a far cry from the weather conditions. The game ended with a score line of 6-1 in favor of Azusa Pacific who outscored the hawks 2-0 in the first half of play, and 4-1 in the second.

Early chances were prevalent in the first five minutes of the game with Azusa looking very confident and assertive in possession. This resulted in a goal for APU in only the 8th minute of play when HNU failed to apply pressure in the offensive third of the field allowing Azusa to play into HNU's defensive third. Good play on the wing resulted in a combination pass from senior defender Brett Taylor to freshman forward Oktay Bulut who ultimately produced a neat finish for the cougars. Sophomore midfielder Martin Maestretti, who looked dangerous throughout the entirety of the game, was finding his feet in an attacking midfield role and was  Holy Names best player on the day. The next major opportunity came in favor of APU in the 24th minute when a long ball was misjudged by HNU sophomore goalkeeper Lars Johansen. The ball was able to bounce inside the 18 yard box and an Azusa forward managed to get to the ball before the goalkeeper, only to get a strike off frame as a result of being off balance. The balance of the game shifted with HNU coming more into the game through strong tackles and neat play but both sides failed to take control of the game and the play was scrappy. The cougars managed to get another goal 2 minutes before the half time break when Vinicius Dantas managed to find some space 30 yards from goal and get a strike off on goal. The strike was high and dipped wickedly catching the underside of the bar before bouncing down behind the Hawks goal line. APU managed to convert their chances with 10 shots and 5 being on goal compared to the Hawks 8 shots and 8 being on goal.

Holy Names started the second half brightly and created an early chance through senior midfielder Doug Alves who managed to find space in behind the Cougars defense but unfortunately he found the angle to goal very narrow and only managed to get off a weak shot. The next breakthrough came in the 53r minute when a long ball into the HNU box found APU Trenton Titus. The Hawks defense failed to apply sufficient pressure in such a critical area allowing Taylor to fire the ball across the goalkeeper into the right hand corner of the goal. Five minutes of play followed before further bad defending from the Hawks allowed APU to counter-attack from a quickly taken goal kick exposing space on the right side of the field. A long ball to the back post found an APU attacker who's first shot was saved but then fell to Taylor who made no mistake second time around.

A further goal was only another 6 minutes away when good forward play by the Cougars opened up a gap behind the Hawks defense. Otis Holt played a nice ball into the gap upon which Vinicius Dantas sprinted through ahead of the last defender to calmly chip the ball over the outrushing Holy Names Goalkeeper. The final goal for APU came in similar circumstances in the 75th minute when another long ball in behind the hawk's defense allowed Henry Ortlip to chip the ball over the goalkeeper from 25 yards out. The hawks, who at this stage were tiring both physically and mentally from the game, managed to find some last gasp energy through sophomore defender Henry Goh who sprinted through the middle of the Cougars defense only to be brought down inside the penalty area, resulting in a penalty. Calmly, sophomore forward Rasmus Larson stepped up to slot the ball to the right of the goal sending the keeper the wrong way.

The game ended 6-1 with the Hawks now needing to dig deep to carve out a good performance for tomorrow's game against Westmont. The game kicks off at 4pm at Westmont's Thorrington field complex, let's go Hawks!!!!