Box Score

Fresno Pacific received two first half goals from Aeriel Sanders and Demi Hamilton and was backed again by a stout defense to record their fifth shutout of the season in a 2-0 victory against Holy Names (1-9, 0-7) on a festive Saturday night at Ramirez Field.

FPU (4-3-4, 4-1-3) won its first home game of the season and continued to ride a current hot streak without recording a loss in the last seven matches, a streak that has seen only three goals allowed by the Sunbird defense.

"For us to get the couple goals in the first half to get off on a good start and create a little bit of a cushion was key for us," said head coach Erik Farfan. "It was really important we got off to the good start, as most of our matches we have been having good second half's, so it was a positive for tonight."

Early action in the first half witnessed the Sunbird offense moving the ball well and controlling the possession. At the 7:57 mark, Sanders displayed great ball control to gather herself and rip a right footer to the back of the net from 30 yards out to put FPU up 1-0. HNU responded quickly with an attempt to tie the game, but Sarah King would not be denied to gather the save minutes later.

The Sunbird offense continued to attack in the first half with Demi Hamilton coming off the bench to record the second goal of the game at the 22:02 mark, after receiving a great lead pass over the HNU defense by Brianna Reyes. Hamilton received the ball on the right side of the box and blasted the pass into the back of the net over the outstretched hand of the HNU goalkeeper to put the Sunbirds up 2-0.

As the first half started to wind down, the FPU defense was clutch once again as King recorded another save to take the 2-0 lead into the half.

The second half witnessed more strong defensive play from the Sunbirds, with Caressa Archie and Colleen Rooney clearing many attempts from the Hawk offense. The best chance of the night for the HNU offense came at the 54:50 mark with Erica Udell firing an attempt from 20 yards out that nearly missed the back of the net and sailed over the crossbar.

FPU tried to put the game out of a reach with an impressive display of ball movement as Sara Vega led Hamilton behind the Hawk defense, who then sent a touch pass to a sliding Ashley Tallon that was just out of reach keeping the score at 2-0 at the 65 minute mark.

Fresno Pacific would close out the game behind two more saves from King, sealing the shutout victory. King totaled four saves on the night while Sanders and Hamilton both recorded their second goals of the season for the Sunbirds.

"I was really proud of the girls, I thought Aerial's goal was brilliant from the midfield and it's always nice to see Demi get her second goal of the year," said Farfan. "Another good defensive effort to couple with the early offensive production is what we need to do to be successful in the PacWest."

Fresno Pacific partnered with "Make-a-Wish" foundation as part of the NCAA Division II "Week of Wishes" on Saturday night and donated all the proceeds from the game to the cause.

FPU will be back in action in San Rafael in a rematch from Thursday's double overtime tie with Dominican on Wednesday, October 10th at 3 pm.