FRESNO, Calif.-Despite a hot start and a two-goal advantage, the Fresno Pacific Sunbirds (3-10-2 overall, 1-7-1 PacWest) couldn't hold onto their second upset of the PacWest leading Dominican Penguins (11-5 overall, 7-1 PacWest) in a 3-2 loss Saturday afternoon at Ramirez Field.

In the early moments the Sunbirds looked like they had bottled up the 2-0 winning result that they earned against Dominican in a non-conference tilt in September.
Fresno Pacific created a chance, almost instantly, as Lucas Ribeiro dribbled down the left side of the pitch and crossed directly in front of goal for Antonio Lepe who blasted a shot off of the keeper. The shot created a deflection for Gabriel Monteiro to cash in for a 1-0 lead in the sixth minute.

The Sunbirds held the lead at halftime before quickly expanding their advantage on a beautiful curling shot off the boot of Ribeiro that tucked inside the near post for a 2-0 lead. Lepe setup Riberio down the left flank before the freshman cut inside to take the shot in the 47^th minute.

But the conference leaders found their opportunities down the left side as well with Lex Bernier scoring a pair of goals, five minutes apart, in the 65^th and 70^th minutes to even the score.

Eight minutes later, Dominican created a chance in the box that drew a red card and simultaneously created a penalty kick that would be cashed in by Brian Sanchez for the go-ahead goal.

Fresno Pacific battled over the last two minutes, despite eventually losing another player due to a red card and playing with just 9 men on the pitch.

Ultimately, FPU couldn't find the additional goal despite the hard-fought contest.

Fresno Pacific will have a week before their season-finale, hosting Azusa Pacific for Senior Day at 5 p.m. on Saturday, November 5^th at Ramirez Field.