FRESNO, Calif. — Fresno Pacific men's soccer fell to Concordia University Irvine 3-2 on Saturday at Ramirez Field. The Sunbirds were able to rally from an initial 2-0 deficit with two clutch goals to equalize, but were held scoreless in the second half.
Concordia wasted no time to claim the lead with two goals at the 3:58 and 9:55 mark. After CUI moved ahead 2-0, the Sunbirds worked hard to equalize before the Golden Eagles widened the gap further.
Zion Vaughn scored off a
Bryan Lopez assist to pull the Sunbirds within one, and newcomer
Esteban Baca later finished an
Andres Perez assist to bring the match level. Around that equalizing stretch, the Sunbirds also defended through a CUI sequence that included three shots and three corner kicks without conceding before halftime.
The Golden Eagles struck early in the second half when Andrew Jun scored at 48:18 to put the Sunbirds behind 3-2. The next stretch of the match included a series of cards that slowed the momentum of the game and several free kicks and throw-ins for both teams. After a red card was issued to CUI, the Sunbirds tried utilizing the man-down advantage, but the team could not find an equalizer as CUI defended the 3-2 result. The Sunbirds finished with more total shots than CUI, 18-11, and put 11 attempts on goal to CUI's seven.
Fresno Pacific is 3-2-1 overall with the first-ever CCAA conference match on the horizon. Offensively, Vaughn leads the conference in goals (7) and points (15), while
Bryan Lopez is second in shots on goal (10) and fourth in assists (3).
CLICK HERE for the CCAA standings and leaderboard.
NEXT UP: The Blue and Orange are back at home on Friday, September 18 at 7pm for the CCAA opener against Cal State Marcos!
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