AZUSA, Calif. – The Fresno Pacific University men's soccer team came away with a key victory on Thursday night, defeating Azusa Pacific 2-1 in PacWest Conference action. Thursday was the first time since 2000 that the Sunbirds defeated APU on the road, simultaneously snapping a four-game winning streak for the Cougars.

"It's nice to finally break the spell against this team and get our guys some confidence. This is the biggest win of the season for us so far," head coach Jaime Ramirez said. "This was a good game against a good team, and we're happy to take this one from them at their place."

Cougar leading scorer Tim Ogunniyi put the home team on the board first with a header in the 37th minute of play. The halftime adjustments worked for the visiting Sunbirds, as Eric Sanchez teamed up with Joao Ravasio to provide FPU with the equalizer just two minutes after the intermission.

In the 69th minute, the Sunbirds took advantage of a foul in the box and lined up Benjamin Cowdrill for the penalty kick. After Cowdrill's shot went one way and Cougar keeper Jorge Pesquera went the other, Fresno Pacific took their first lead in their last 359 minutes.

The Sunbirds return to action on Saturday, when they wrap up the road trip with a visit to Point Loma in San Diego. Opening whistle is set for 11:30 am.

"They have been up and down, but their style will be similar to what we saw tonight," Ramirez said. "We will look at the video and analyze them beforehand, but if we get the effort we got tonight, I think we can get the results we want."