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Kissimmee, Fla. - Down 2-0 with 23 minutes left against an immensely talented Palm Beach Atlantic team, Fresno Pacific showed tremendous resiliency with two late goals before going on to earn the victory on penalty kicks to advance to the NCCAA National Championship match on Saturday.

Rodrigo Vianna capped off the miraculous second-half comeback with the fifth penalty kick for the 5-4 PK win, sending the FPU bench and fans into a frenzy.

After falling behind 2-0 in the first half the Sunbirds found themselves under pressure, being down two goals for the first time during their 13-match winning streak.

After the halftime FPU began to settle in and use their relentless energy and pressure to push PBA into the defensive half of the field and turn that pressure into chances.

Freshman Alvaro Nogales came up big late in the match, netting the team's first goal with 23 minutes remaining. Paul Islas created chances all night, but the PBA defense seemed to be in the right place at the right time continuously to stop some excellent looks.

Then with just under five minutes left Islas made a run down the left side of the field and played a beautiful cross into the box that, after a scrum around the goal, found Luke Tyler who knocked it in to tie the match at 2-2. After 20 minutes of overtime the score remained level and it came down to penalty kicks.

The Sailfish decided to kick first and junior keeper Fabian Rangel read Kevin Ireland's PK perfectly and made the stop to give Fresno Pacific a chance for a one-goal cushion.

FPU got a goal immediately following from Fabricio Nazare to give the Sunbirds a one-goal lead. The Sunbirds also got goals from Nogales, Gustavo Silva and Alexis Hernandez.

The Sailfish also scored the next four and it all came down to Vianna's right foot.

The senior forward stepped cautiously until the Sailfish goalkeeper showed which way he was leaning. He put the shot on a string and right into the back of the net and the Sunbirds completed the comeback.

The win gives FPU a berth in the NCCAA finals where they will face a familiar foe in the #2 seed California Baptist, who defeated #3 Union 1-0 today on an 87th minute goal. The Sunbirds have split the two matches this season with the Lancers and will face them one more time on Saturday at 5 pm at the Austin-Tyndell Regional Soccer Field.