SAN FRANCISCO, Calif - If there's anything FPU Men's Soccer co-captain Lucas Ribeiro loves more than scoring goals, it's winning games.  All he needed on Saturday was one kick to check both boxes.  The Brazilian's 47th minute strike proved to be the deciding factor in a 3-1 victory away to Academy of Art.

With the goal, Ribeiro moves back into a tie with Westmont's Erik Guerrero for top scorer the PacWest.  But as good as scoring is, it's the W that matters most.  "I'm really happy to score again and get back to being top scorer in PacWest," Ribeiro said after the match.  "But even more happy for the team to get back to winning."

The victory snaps a winless three-game stretch that included conference defeats against Vanguard and Westmont, plus a draw against non-conference UC Santa Cruz.

The hosts took a lead in the 28th minute when Keita Goda was able to convert Audie Garza's cross inside the box for his second goal of the season.  But the quality of the Sunbirds began to show through and Stephan Morris leveled it less than 10 minutes later on a Chris Macias in-swinger.  At halftime the score remained level, but it was the talisman from Sao Paulo who gave FPU the lead they'd need to secure victory.  It come off another stunning cross from Macias - his second assist of the contest.  "Macias was massive for us today," said FPU Associate Head Coach Cameron Shahrokhi.

The third and final goal for the Sunbirds came from Bryan Lopez, who received a superb through ball from his teammate and twin brother, Brandon Lopez, to beat the keeper one on one and formally put the Urban Knights to bed.

"Great response from our guys from going 1-0 down," added Shahrokhi.  "We created numerous goal scoring opportunities and had a dominant 2nd half.  I am proud of our team's attitude and effort."  Co-captain and midfielder Julian Aran Martin returned from his yellow card suspension and helped marshall the Sunbirds from the back.  The performance on the road energized Aran as he looks forward to what's next for his side.  "Seeing how the team fought today, as a captain, makes me really proud about all my teammates and brothers," Aran said post-match.

The win bumps FPU up ever so slightly in the PacWest race, and assures them that there's still plenty to battle for this fall.  Up next for the 'Birds is Jessup, who are not only directly above them in the standings, but are also coming off a 4-0 thrashing of Westmont earlier in the day.  FPU will host both the Jessup men and women on Wednesday at Ramirez Field, with the men kicking off at 5pm and the women at 7:30pm.  Both matches will be streaming live on the PacWest Network.  


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