The Eagles mustered tons of scoring chances Wednesday afternoon and had the first-place Azusa Pacific Cougars on their heels in the first half, but the visitors regrouped and ultimately escaped with a 4-3 victory.

Concordia forward Julian Font opened the scoring when he was able to time a shot perfectly off a beautiful cross by Ari Claro.  The goal came in the 21st minute of action and gave the Eagles confidence against an APU squad that entered the day 7-0 in PacWest play.

The 1-0 lead also motivated the Cougars to step up their game.  In the 28th minute, Arturo Astorga lifted a shot that fluttered over the head of Concordia goalie Mac Hutchins.

Less than five minutes later, Astorga set up Jonah Peck for his first goal of the season.  APU grabbed a 2-1 lead and would never trail the rest of the way.

James Ndubueze made a run into the box a couple ticks before halftime and found the back of the net off a cross by Astorga.  APU led 3-1 at halftime but the Eagles responded after head coach Chris Gould rallied his troops.

Connor Gordon and Jafet Sanchez were able to generate some traffic in the box and a shot by Gordon off the keeper eventually found the foot of Font.  The junior was able to shepherd the ball across the line off the rebound and gave the Eagles life as they swooped in for the quick goal to make it just 3-2 APU.

However, Ndubueze struck again for the visitors in the 50th minute when he booted the ball to the right corner off a pass from Kyle Diaz.  That goal made it 4-2 Cougars and proved to be a deciding factor.

Jafet Sanchez was able to convert a penalty kick in the 68th minute to help the Eagles claw back within one.  But that tally wound up capping the scoring as APU was able to defend multiple scoring chances by the Green and Gold and preserve a 4-3 road victory.

Font led the Eagles with four points while Sanchez finished with a goal and an assist.

The two clubs combined for 43 fouls and 29 shots.  APU finished with ten shots on goal while Concordia put seven on target.  Ricardo Medina helped solidify the defense in the second half and made two key saves for the Eagles after intermission.

Concordia returns to the pitch this Saturday, Oct. 27 when the Eagles welcome Notre Dame De Namur.  That match begins at 1:00 p.m. and will be followed by the women's match at approximately 3:30 p.m.