FRESNO, Calif. – The Fresno Pacific University men's soccer team came away with a PacWest Conference victory on Wednesday night, besting Academy of Art 4-2 at Ramirez Field. The Sunbirds improve to 5-6-2 overall with the victory, and Wednesday marked the team's highest-scoring game of the season.  

"They created some opportunities and scored on us, but we knew it was a matter of time when we saw the scouting report," head coach Jaime Ramirez said. "We were looking forward to getting home after being on the road for so long, and it was good to get back on track. This was a good outing for us."

Eric Sanchez started the scoring in the game's 20th minute, shaking a defender and launching a perfect ball from the right side of the box to find the net for the second time this season. Isaiah Asencio took advantage of a defensive lapse with less than four minute remaining in the first half, heading a shot over the Urban Knight keeper to extend the lead to 2-0.

After a turnover by the FPU defense, Urban Knight forward Isiah Quiros put Art U on the board in the 45th minute with a shot from just outside the box. The Blue and Orange carried a 2-1 advantage into the locker room at the intermission and wouldn't surrender the lead for the duration of the night.

Jorge Chedraui teamed up Dylan Rusconi just over three minutes into the second half, and after the keeper came out of the net, Rusconi beat his defender to put the Sunbirds on top 3-1. The Urban Knights pulled within a goal 12 minutes later, but Rusconi returned the favor and assisted a Chedraui score to provide the final goal of the night.

The Sunbirds aim to continue their winning ways on Saturday, when they play host to Holy Names in another PacWest showdown. Opening whistle is set for 5:00 p.m. from Ramirez Field.

"They will have some individuals that are as good as anybody in the conference, and we have to respect them," Ramirez said. "Historically, we have a good number of goals against them, and we're in a position to do the same thing again. Maintaining the shutout will be a priority for us."