The Sunbirds rallied from a 2-0 deficit before giving up a late goal in a loss to reigning Pac West champion Hawaii Pacific.

Fresno Pacific fell behind early on a long ball played into the box that was deflected into the goal by Alejandro Porras to give HPU the 1-0 lead in the 4th minute.

Hawaii Pacific was very physical with the Sunbirds early in the match as mid-fielder Fabricio Nazare was cleated in the shin, which would force him from the match for several minutes.

“They hit us very hard throughout the match,” said head coach Jaime Ramirez. “They were allowed to play us hard and it affected us at first.”

The Seawarriors would strike again in the 26th minute. Forward Keenan Ho got behind the FPU defense and beat keeper Steven Waite and placed it in the back of the net for the two goal lead.

It was after that goal that the momentum of the game began shifting. The Sunbirds started to push forward and use their superior passing ability to create chances. Those chances culminated on a cheeky play by defender Ivan MIrkovic who was given a free kick from nearly mid-field. Mirkovic noticed that HPU keeper Mael Lefebvre was cheating forward and launched the ball over his head for the goal to pull FPU within one just before half.

The Sunbirds continued their relentless attacking in the second half which led to an early opportunity for Guillermo Talancon who put it in for the equalizer on the assist from Nazare.

Fresno Pacific had the momentum and continued to have a number of opportunities, but the Sunbirds failed to capitalize on the chances.

“We had a number of chances and we just didn't make good decisions with the ball,” said Ramirez. “There were a couple of times when we had the goalie one-on-one and just shot it too early. We just didn't respond properly to the opportunities we had.”

The Sunbirds, who were without leading scorer Paul Islas, kept the ball in HPU's half of the field for much of the rest of the match as FPU continued to keep the majority of the possession.

The Seawarriors made the most of their opportunities though late in the game, most notably in the 84th minute when Porras scored on an assist from Truls Henrick-Lystad who fed Porras on a long cross into the box.

“It was so awful that we ended up giving it up like that so late in the match,” said Ramirez. “We know we gave this one up to them. When you are playing the conference champions you have to raise your play, and we didn't do that.”

Fresno Pacific will have the day off tomorrow before their final match in Hawaii against the Chaminade Silverswords. The match is set to kick-off at 4 pm Pacific.