FRESNO, Calif. -  A pair of first half goals from Eduardo Villar and Fellipe Souza proved to be enough for the Fresno Pacific men's soccer team to hold off the Academy of Art Urban Knights 2-1 on Tuesday evening.
 
INSIDE THE MATCHUP: 

• Final: FPU 2, Art U 1
• Records: FPU (3-1-0, 2-1-0 PacWest), Art U (2-2-0, 2-2-0 PacWest)
• Location: Ramirez Field | Fresno, Calif.      

QUOTABLE:   

• "I saw much improvement on the defensive side in terms of not giving up goals like we did at their place. What's really encouraging to me is the number of chances we created. We had clear, one on one opportunities; we just did not finish. Edu and Fellipe are providing leadership and experience to our team. They know the conference, they know the level of competition and I think they're rising to the occasion." – head coach Jaime Ramirez. 

SCORING:  

• (12:56) After an even opening 10 minutes, Eduardo Villar scored his third goal of the season, using his head to finish a pass from Jacob Bear.  
• (19:57) Shortly after, reigning PacWest NorCal Pod Player of the Week Fellipe Souza beat the keeper with an assist from James Hernandez.
• (83:32) The Urban Knights cut the Sunbird lead in half when Armondo Rivera found the back of the net thanks to a pass from Fanner Omarsson.

STATS FROM THE GAME:  

• FPU outshot their guests 18-8, but the clubs were tied with seven shots on a goal.  
• Patrick Timmer made six saves for the Sunbirds.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE: 

• Villar has scored three goals in his last two games.
• The Sunbirds have yet to lose when they play at Ramirez Field, improving to 3-0 on the season.

UP NEXT:  

• The Sunbirds return to Ramirez Field on Monday, February 22, when they host Holy Names. Stay tuned to Sunbird Social and FPUAthletics.com for all schedule updates for this season.   

SUNBIRD SOCIAL:

• Twitter - @fpusunbirds
• Instagram - @fpusunbirds 
• Facebook - /FPUathletics