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Fresno Pacific ended the regular season with an emphatic 5-1 victory over visiting Point Loma Nazarene on Saturday, clinching the conference's number four seed and the right to host a first-round playoff game.
FPU will face Biola on Wednesday at 7 pm in a rematch of a game the Eagles won 2-0 in Fresno two weeks ago.
Paul Islas had a phenomenal performance, scoring two goals and assisting on two others while consistently beating PLNU defenders one-on-one. Gustavo Da Silva also scored twice in the win and Mihailo Jovanovic netted a goal on his senior day.
“Our goal was to win and give ourselves momentum going into the playoffs,” said coach Jaime Ramirez. “I was very pleased with our offensive aggressiveness today and it's especially rewarding to know that we can score like that against a team as talented as Point Loma.”
Islas was the story of the day for FPU and created opportunities for the rest of the offense. After 36 scoreless minutes, Islas used to speed to break away and create a one-on-one opportunity with a defender from the left side of the box.
After putting a couple moves on and waiting til the precise moment, Islas dealt a perfect pass to Jovanovic who was trailing the play. Though Jovanovic had a defender on him, a perfect pass allowed him to knock in a point-blank shot to the back of the net.
Three minutes later Islas would get on the board with a goal of his own, beating the defense once again and hitting a left-footed shot into the right side of the goal.
FPU went into the halftime break up 2-0, but PLNU came out fighting in the second half. The Sea Lions were playing to keep their season alive, and a win would have put them into one of the final playoff spots.
A long run by Griffin Fuller would help the Sea Lions get on the board as he passed off to Austin Fares who netted a goal in the 48th minute to make it 2-1.
PLNU would keep the pressure on, as evidenced by their 11 corner kicks to FPU's two, and would maintain much of the possession for the first 25 minutes of the second half.
A critical defensive mistake would work to the Sunbirds' advantage in the 65th minute as a PLNU defender attempted to clear it out of the box, but didn't get his foot on enough of the ball. It went straight to Da Silva, a player known for having a great first touch, at the top of the box. The freshman forward quickly shot it into the back of the net for a 3-1 FPU lead.
Islas would score an exciting goal minutes later, as he leaped to block a PLNU defender's cross. The ball deflected off Islas, leaving just him and the defender to chase it. With Islas' speed it was no contest, creating a one-on-one opportunity with the Sea Lion keeper. Islas put a light touch on the ball after the keeper came out, with the ball slowly rolling in for the 4-1 lead.
The fifth goal was possibly the best of the day, as it combined some great teamwork from Da Silva and Islas. Da Silva got it started and passed off to Islas, who surged past defenders creating a two-on-one opportunity with just one PLNU defender back. He passed back to Da Silva who maneuvered around the Sea Lion keeper and netted his second goal of the day.
That duo of Islas and Da Silva has combined for 17 goals and seven assists this season.
The Sunbirds finished the regular season at 9-8, 6-4 in conference play with the win and snapped a three-game losing streak in the process.
GSAC Playoffs
#6 Hope International at #3 Azusa Pacific
#5 Biola at #4 Fresno Pacific, 7 pm
#7 Westmont at #2 California Baptist
#8 Concordia at #1 Vanguard
*Semifinals will be held Saturday at the higher seed. There will be no re-seeding, so should FPU win they would play the winner of Concordia and Vanguard.
