Box Score

After 97 minutes of scoreless soccer, Paul Islas and the Sunbirds finally broke through with a golden goal to defeat visiting UC Santa Cruz 1-0.

"It's been a while since we've won a tightly-contested game against a quality opponent," said FPU coach Jaime Ramirez. "[UC Santa Cruz] is every bit as good as the teams we face in the GSAC on a regular basis."

It was FPU's second straight shutout and Ramirez applauded the defensive play of the team, as well as the team's ability to get the ball to Islas, who could only be contained for so long.

"It's important for us to earn a shutout at home in a game like this," he said. "I thought we played very well defensively and of course, you factor in a player like Paul that any moment can do what's he's capable of doing. He can carry this team."

Islas' goal came on a pass from Bruno Pessoa and caught him in stride sprinting down the side of the field. The play mirrored many of the Sunbirds' earlier chances, but this time Islas struck the ball perfectly between an oncoming defender and the diving goalkeeper for the score. The goal sent the crowd into a frenzy as FPU players mobbed Islas in celebration.

Islas had given the Banana Slug defense fits all night, but until that point had come up just shy of netting the game's first goal. Six minutes prior to the game-winner, with Islas breaking away from a defender, he was clipped from behind resulting in a UC Santa Cruz red card.

The Sunbirds held a 20-13 shot advantage, but only had two shots on goal until the game-winner. Steven Waite earned the shutout in goal for FPU, making a couple crucial saves in the second half. The Banana Slugs had some chances in the first half, but saw most of them thwarted by Adrian Arias, who frustrated the Santa Cruz offense all night.

FPU moves on to face GSAC rival #6 Azusa Pacific at Ramirez Field on Wednesday night at 7 pm. APU also defeated UC Santa Cruz by a 1-0 margin earlier this season and is the highest ranked GSAC team at this point.