Box Score

One of the fiercest rivalries in the PacWest was renewed Tuesday as Fresno Pacific and California Baptist met for the first time since a heartbreaking NCCAA National Championship match in 2012.

 A pair of first-half goals and superior possession play lifted the Sunbirds (3-2-1, 2-0) to a 3-0 victory over the Lancers (1-3-1, 1-2). At 1-3-1 the Lancers are off to their slowest star since a 2006 campaign in which they started 1-7.

"Today solidified that effort that we were missing in finishing opportunities that we have created," said head coach Jaime Ramirez. "Getting those scores today was huge. Especially against what has become recently our fiercest rival in the conference."

Eric Velarde, Renato Bustamante and Gustavo Silva all scored in the win for FPU.

The Sunbirds jumped out early with high pressure and excellent defense throughout the midfield and back line, which created opportunities from a very early stage for an offense that struggled to establish rhythm in the early parts of the season.

Velarde capitalized first on a great feed from Guillermo Talancon in the 10th minute of the match. The goal was the first of Velarde's career and in an important game for the team, but to him personally as well.

"This was the game that I got hurt in last year," said Velarde. "It felt good to score a goal like that in a game like this."

Velarde suffered a season-ending knee injury in a 4-2 loss to CBU last season after the Sunbirds were down to nine players following two red cards.

It was clear that one goal was not going to satisfy this team on this night. Just 10 minutes later senior Ivan Mirkovic, who was inserted into the midfield for the first time this season, played a perfect through ball to Silva who broke behind the Lancer defense with his superior speed. The bouncing shot hopped underneath keeper Ian Clark and in the back of the net in the 20th minute.

CBU played with a sense of urgency for the remainder of the half and created a number of chances in the FPU half of the field. But senior goalkeeper Fabian Rangel and the rest of the defense were equal to the task and kept star forward Alex Anderson and the Lancer offense out of the goal.

"Our defense was phenomenal tonight," said Ramirez. "We tweaked the lineup a little bit and put Ivan in the midfield and that created some opportunities for us offensively, but also allowed us to win more balls in the midfield and helped out our defense."

CBU continued the pressure early in the second half creating even more dangerous opportunities, including one that would have gone in if not for a save by Mirkovic.

The Sunbirds put the game on ice with an excellent display of passing in the 52nd minute. Sophomore Alvaro Nogales laid a ball off to Alexis Hernandez who crossed perfectly in front of goal to a cutting Bustamante who scored his third goal of the season to lead the team.

The zero on the board was the first shutout of the season for a defense that has battled injuries throughout the early part of the season. Senior Julian Mattaliano made his first start of the season for FPU after recovering from and injury in the preseason. Rangel's seven saves set a career high for saves in a shutout effort.

FPU will be back in action this Saturday when they play host to Dominican (CA) at Ramirez Field. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.