In their first ever NCAA game the Fresno Pacific Sunbirds fell to Cal State Stanislaus 2-1 on a pair of corner kick goals by the Warriors who made the set piece work in their favor.

“I thought we came in a little slow and a little flat,” said senior forward Paul Islas. “It wasn't the way we wanted to start the season, but we are going to get better from here.”

The Warriors (1-0) struck first in the 12th minute off a corner from Nolan Holdridge that found Josh Handley in a crowd right in front of goal. Handley slipped it past keeper Steven Waite for the score and CSUS jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead.

The Sunbirds (0-1) responded with a flurry of attacks but like much of the match a combination FPU's lackluster performance in the final third and physical play by the Warriors kept Fresno Pacific from equalizing.

Freshman forward Alvaro Nogales had the best chance for a score late in the first half from the top right corner of the penalty box but bent the shot just wide of the net and out for a goal kick.

Early in the second half Cal State Stanislaus struck again in the 57th minute off of another corner that was nearly kept out by sophomore midfielder Eric Velarde but he couldn't get to it before it crossed the line and Stanislaus took a 2-0 lead.

“We knew coming into the game we didn't want to give up corners,” said head coach Jaime Ramirez. “Their strength is scoring from the set piece and we knew that.”

Despite the two goals the Sunbirds kept Cal State Stanislaus at bay in the run of play thanks to some phenomenal defending by the back line and in particular sophomore Nick Watson and freshman Nick Starr who came in for Watson after he left the game due to injury.

After the second goal the Sunbirds pushed forward and were able to control the ball better which led to several good chances against a Warrior defense that was starting to bend under the relentless pressure.

Nogales finally broke through for Fresno Pacific with a beautiful finish in the 88th minute that he put into the side netting off of a pass from Islas, his first career goal.

“It was good to score,” said Nogales. “But it didn't matter in the end.”

Nogales and the Sunbirds had a few more chances but it was too little too late for Fresno Pacific.

Despite the loss the team played well, especially in the second half.

“I thought the guys played really well,” said Ramirez. “The young guys came in and did a good job as did the new guys.”

The Sunbirds were without four of their starters. Midfielder Gustavo Silva, defender Luke Tyler, forward Rodrigo Vianna and defender Adrian Arias were out of tonight's lineup. Tyler and Arias should be ready to go in time for FPU's next game against Cal State Monterey Bay this Saturday at 8:00 pm at Ramirez Field.