Costa Mesa, CA- Arizona Christian proved they are still playing with heart as they pushed Vanguard into overtime before being turned away in the first extra session.  Senior Luis Tapia found the back of the net for ACU.

The Firestorm held a 4-3 shot lead 17 minutes into play.  Freshman Juan Mora attempted two of the shots with Freshman Isaac Pedraza sending a header on target that was saved.  Junior Hasani Nunez put a foot in the other attempt.

Vanguard used the following nine minutes to fire off five of the next six shots to no avail. 

But the 0-0 score changed in the 28th minute when Freshman Alex Segura played a ball off the VU goalkeeper and Tapia buried the deflection into the net.  For Tapia, it was his team leading fifth goal of the season.

In the final 17 minutes of the half, VU tried to find the equalizer but Freshman Joshua Stewart stood his ground including staring down a penalty kick that he saved.  He ended the opening half with five saves before finishing with nine saves overall.

Half number two saw VU come out with the momentum as they took the first five shots of the half with attempt number five off a header becoming the equalizer.

After a total of 18 shots by the Lions in the second 45 minutes, the Firestorm held on for the tie game.

ACU dialed up some pressure of their own in the final eight minutes of regulation as all four of their second half shots came in that time frame.  Tapia, Nunez, Segura, and Junior Roberto Valenzuela all worked a shot into the equation before the teams headed off in overtime.

Despite missing a shot 63 seconds into OT, Vanguard did not miss on the game winner just 2:22 into overtime.

Proud of the effort and fight the men continue to give, Director of Soccer Alan Berrios commented, "The men came out with a lot of energy today.  They worked really hard, combined well offensively, and were disciplined defensively.  We created valid chances to score as did Vanguard.  The boys went up 1-0 on a great combination play with Segura and Tapia.  Vanguard came out strong in the second half and I thought we did great weathering the storm.  Overall a good performance and it is always unfortunate to lose in OT."

The Firestorm will stay in California and face Hope International on Saturday.  The match at Fullerton College will kick off at 2:30 pm.