FRESNO, Calif. — In a hard-fought battle at Ramirez Field, Fresno Pacific men's soccer fell 2-1 to Cal State Dominguez Hills on Thursday. The Sunbirds struck first, but the Toros answered before halftime and added the game-winning goal in the 68th minute.
The Sunbirds made the most of their first-half opportunities, finding the back of the net on one of four shots.
Zion Vaughn opened the scoring in the 15th minute, finishing a pass from
Cole Keeslar to give FPU an early 1-0 advantage.
Cal State Dominguez Hills controlled much of the offensive pressure in the opening half, recording nine shots and earning several corner kicks. Goalkeeper
Arturo Alegria came up with three consecutive saves during a dangerous stretch to keep the Toros off the scoreboard.
The visitors eventually broke through in the 37th minute, leveling the match at 1-1 heading into halftime.
The second half remained a back-and-forth battle as both teams looked for the go-ahead goal. Following another series of corner kicks, CSUDH found the breakthrough in the 68th minute to take a 2-1 lead.
The 'Birds continued to push for an equalizer late in the match.
Nixon Hansen sent a shot just over the crossbar, while
Brandon Lopez fired a hard attempt toward the left side that was saved by the Toros goalkeeper.
Beau Brusseau also had a late header opportunity, but the Sunbirds were unable to find the equalizer as CSUDH held on for the 2-1 victory.
Fresno Pacific men's soccer is 4-5-1 overall and 1-3 in CCAA play. In conference, Vaughn is first in goals (9) and points (19) as well as ninth in game-winning goals (2).
Bryan Lopez is ranked first in assists (5), whereas Keeslar sits fourth with four assists on the season.
NEXT UP: The Blue and Orange return to Ramirez Field on Saturday, October 3 for the matchup against Menlo College at 7pm.
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