FRESNO, Calif. - Renato Bustamante scored three goals including the equalizer with just 1:30 remaining as Fresno Pacific and BYU-Hawaii played to a 3-3 tie on Monday night at Ramirez Field in PacWest action.
The Sunbirds remained in second place in the conference and are now 9-4-1 overall and 7-2-1 in PacWest play. FPU leads the Seasiders (6-5-4, 6-1-3 PacWest) by one point in league and trails Azusa Pacific by two points with two games remaining. The draw also puts the Sunbirds in good position to qualify for the National Christian College Athletic Association playoffs.
"I saw two different teams in both of us tonight," said head coach
Jaime Ramirez. "We certainly had momentum in the first half, and we talked at halftime about the game speed and the tale of two halves. BYU-Hawaii came out in the second half with a hunger and a sense of purpose compared to the first half. I give our guys credit though, they fought and stayed with it until we got the third goal back at a time when they (BYUH) thought they could still win it."
The physical match began with the Sunbirds taking control early in the first half. Bustamante notched his first goal of the night in the 14th minute. He was rewarded by a
Dylan Rusconi run in the box, who played the ball back to a diving Bustamante for a one-timer past the Seasider goalkeeper. The junior tallied his second goal of the afternoon only 12 minutes later, this time assisted by
Jorge Chedraui. Bustamante received the pass and nailed a right-footer into the upper 90 from about 15 yards out.
Following halftime, BYU-Hawaii responded with three straight goals to take the lead. Romy Lakip, Jace Green and Pawell Dregan scored, with the latter coming in the 79th minute.
Bustamante wouldn't let the Sunbirds fall, however, and headed home a free kick from
Eric Velarde in the 88th minute to force overtime. The hat-trick marked a career-high for Bustamante.
Both teams had chances in the two overtime periods, but neither could find the golden goal before settling for the draw.
 "It's unfortunate to give up a 2-0 lead, but credit to them for not folding," said Bustamante. "It's been part of our character all year to fight to the very end. We weren't going to give up and we believe until the very end. Offensively, today was just one of those days I was able to put away my chances from my teammates."
Andrew Luis made six saves for FPU in the tie, with five coming in the second half and one in the second overtime period. BYUH out-shot FPU 18-12 on the night.
FPU celebrated senior night for Guillermo Talancon, Nick Watson and Gustavo Aguilar.The Sunbirds face the first-place Azusa Pacific Cougars in PacWest action on the road Thursday, Nov. 6 at 5:30 p.m.
