The Fresno Pacific men's soccer team faced a tough CSU Stanislaus team Saturday afternoon in Turlock, CA, falling to the Warriors 2-1 after battling back from a 2-0 deficit. 

The two teams played evenly in the first half which ended scoreless at 0-0. All three goals were scored in the second period of play as the Sunbirds outshot the Warriors 14-5.

Stanislaus' Victor Regalado opened the scoring in the 57th minute after converting a shot into the left corner of the Sunbird goal that hit the post and trickled into the net giving the Warriors the 1-0 lead.

Regalado struck again just five minutes later after a misplay by the Sunbird's defense ended with the ball at the feet of the Warrior's Jose Velasquez. Velasquez immediately found Regalado on the counterattack to assist him on his second goal of the game.

Despite the score line, Fresno Pacific continued to dominate the second half of play and was finally awarded a penalty in the 74th minute when FPU's Rodrigo Vianna Ferreira was fouled in the Warriors penalty box.

Sunbirds' Nehemias Blanco stepped up to take the free kick, but Stanislaus' goalkeeper, and Clovis native, Steven Waite came up with the vital save.

That missed opportunity proved costly for the orange and blue considering the Sunbirds were awarded another penalty in the 87th minute that could have potentailly tied the match, FPU had to settle instead for a 2-1 score line after senior midfielder Vitor Machado did convert that attempt.

“Dehydration coupled with a few poor defensive decisions and the missed penalty, kept us from getting the result we wanted today,” FPU head coach Jaime Ramirez assessed. “However, I was proud of the way our guys responded under such adverse conditions, and how we continued to pressure and were able to battle back from being two goals down,” Ramirez added.

FPU men's soccer will be back in action Saturday, September 5th when they host West Hills College in a scrimmage. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00pm.