Fresno Pacific ran their win streak to six games despite missing a number of starters due to injury in a 2-0 shutout win over Academy of Art.

The Sunbirds were missing forward Paul Islas, defender Adrian Arias and were without midfielder Fabricio Nazare for much of the match and still managed to put multiple goals in the back of the net.

“You wonder how it was going to play itself out because of the conditions of each team. We both came out from playing on Thursday, both somewhat tired, both at different places of the standings and they are an up and coming team.”

Rodrigo Vianna struck early for the Sunbirds (10-4, 8-3) in the sixth minute of the match. Nazare took the corner and put it into the box then Luke Tyler went up for the header only to have it deflected back in the air. Vianna went up strong against two defenders and put it past keeper Ian Sutherland for the early 1-0 lead.

The Urban Knights (3-10-1, 2-7-1) settled back down and kept FPU at bay for the remainder of the half, mostly due to their drop everyone one in defense approach that left that half of the field compacted.

“They are a good team and they have some players that can really play,” said Ramirez. “They made things complicated for us and they complicated things for us more because of their energy.”

The Sunbirds still managed to connect on some passes and Gustavo Silva had a few chances late in the half but was able to put any in the back of the net.

Alvaro Nogales got the start in place of Islas and was effective throughout the match on both sides of the ball. His physical style, a change from the pure speed of Islas, kept the Urban Knights defense working hard throughout the match and eventually led to some chances late.

In the second half the Sunbirds continued to maintain the majority of the possession throughout the first fifteen minutes.

FPU had one golden chance on a Nogales shot that shook the entire goal when it bounced off the post and out.

Then Academy of Art started to press.

The Urban Knights brought unrelenting offensive pressure for a span of about 25 minutes that led to a few chances at an equalizer. But Ivan Mirkovic, Tyler and the rest of the Sunbirds defense held and kept the scoreless sheet.

“I thought we responded well to those [attacks],” said Ramirez. “Ivan and Luke did a great job back in the center and CY (Chris Young) stepped it up he did a good job today.”

Late in the second half FPU capitalized on the pressure and got a breakaway going towards the Academy of Art goal. Nogales ripped a shot that was deflected by Sutherland but landed right at the feet of Julian Mattaliano who had no trouble putting it in the wide open net for the easy goal.

“I am looking forward to the next two weeks of the season and we will see what happens in the playoffs,” said Ramirez.

The win gives Fresno Pacific 24 points in conference and keeps them in a tie for third place in the conference with California Baptist. The Sunbirds are back in action on Tuesday when they hit the road for a showdown with Division III UC Santa Cruz. FPU with be without starting center back Ivan Mirkovic who was issued his fifth caution of the season and will serve his one game suspension on Tuesday.