Men's soccer 2009 season in review
The Sunbirds fought hard in 2009.
Written by Erik Farfan
4/14/2010
FRESNO, CA. -
The Fresno Pacific men's soccer team kicked-off the 2009 season by going international beginning with a trip to Mexico to face semi-professional side Cimarrones de Mexicali in an exhibition.
Although the Sunbirds fell 1-0 to the Mexicali squad after conceding a late goal in the 93rd minute, FPU head coach Jaime Ramirez, a Mexicali native, was pleased with his team's opener in his former hometown.
After falling to CSU Stanislaus 2-1 in the first official match of the season, the Sunbirds rattled off four wins in-a-row before starting what would be a challenging 2009 GSAC campaign.
Following a 3-3 tie in their conference opener, Fresno Pacific dropped games to No. 22 The Master's College and No. 21 Concordia before recording another four game win streak. The Sunbird's final result of that run included a thrilling 2-1 overtime victory at No. 11 Biola.
FPU eventually finished sixth in GSAC play and although falling 2-1 to Azusa Pacific in the Conference tournament, were guaranteed a spot into the 2009 NAIA National tournament as host for the event for the second consecutive year.
Fresno Pacific used an early goal by freshman Paul Islas to take a 1-0 lead, but couldn't overcome No. 4 seeded Embry-Riddle who scored three second-half goals to eliminate FPU, and end the Sunbird's season.
Fresno Pacific finished the 2009 campaign with an 8-8-2 overall record, and went 4-4-2 in GSAC play.
Seniors Vitor Machado and Gabriel Ramirez were selected to the 2009 All-GSAC Team while fellow senior Timothy Nightingale earned All-GSAC Scholar Athlete honors, respectively.