FRESNO, Calif. – The Concordia University Irvine men's soccer team is in the middle of an important stretch where it will play five out of six matches on the road.
CUI added to the win column on Saturday evening with a non-conference victory over former PacWest Conference foe Fresno Pacific.
Three different players scored and they all came in very different ways.
Right out of the gate in the fourth minute the Golden Eagles put the pressure on the Sunbirds and found the back of the net.
Joao Freitas left the ball for
Angel Reyes, who promptly sent a good ball into the box.
Hugo Viramontes saw it immediately and timed his kick perfectly to ricochet a shot past a stunned FPU defense and it was 1-0 CUI.
Not much time had passed when sophomore
Gianluca Guimaraes doubled the Concordia advantage. Guimaraes capitalized in the 10th minute by smacking home a blast from just inside the box after
Dylan Graham had battled for a second ball and tapped it right towards Guimaraes. The Golden Eagles were flying high and looked like the better squad in the initial sequences of the game.
But to Fresno Pacific's credit the hosts did not roll over and got themselves back into the game. After netting their first goal of the contest, FPU literally rebounded by converting off a saved shot by
Sebastian Marin to tie things up at 2-2 right before halftime.
Senior
Andy Jun was presented with a moment early in the second half and proved to be a key difference-maker. Jun gained possession off a FPU miscue, took a few dribbles and then unleashed what would prove to be the game-winning goal in the 49th minute.
Marin continued to make some fantastic stops to preserve that CUI lead and finished with a season-high seven saves. This included a denial late in the final minute of regulation as FPU was desperately trying to net an equalizer while Concordia played a man down for nearly the last 35 minutes of the second half.
Fresno Pacific outshot Concordia 18 to 11 and the Sunbirds also wound up with 11 total shots on goal to Concordia's seven. But the Golden Eagles cashed in on three of those while it was even strength and held on for the clutch victory.
"That was a difficult game, but we won as a team," said Freitas.
"I'm most proud of their resilience, their determination in the face of adversity, and their commitment to each other," explained CUI head coach
Joshua Glover. "Some calls didn't go our way tonight but with every set back we faced, we fought back."
Concordia visits Cal State Dominguez Hills this coming Tuesday, Sept. 15 at 7:00 p.m. PT. That will be the final tuneup for the Golden Eagles before conference play begins.
The Golden Eagles next home match will be on Saturday, Sept. 16 at 6:30 p.m. against Hawaii Hilo. That will also be the PacWest Conference opener and first doubleheader of the season for both the CUI men and women's squads.
CLICK HERE for the full CUI men's soccer schedule
