FRESNO, Calif. – Anthony Hernandez-Perez and Sidney Dina notched goals within a six-minute span of each half, while Aidan Hay's brilliance between the pipes led to Vanguard's 2-1 men's soccer victory over Fresno Pacific on Thursday.
The Lions chalked up the well-earned win in their first PacWest game in school history. VU improved to 2-1-1, while the Sunbirds fell to 1-2-4.
Hay made five saves, several of the acrobatic variety, and had his grip on a shutout until the Sunbirds scored with three seconds remaining.
The Lions were outshot 11-5, but made the most of their scoring opportunities as they netted goals just under two minutes before halftime and four minutes into the second stanza.
What Happened?: Fresno Pacific held a 7-4 advantage in shots over the first 45 minutes, but Hay was stingy with three stops.
He stopped Julian Aran Martin's close up header in the box in the eighth minute. In the 19th minute, Fresno Pacific's Chris Macias found himself on the doorstep, but Hay deflected his shot at point-blank range to keep the game scoreless.
The game remained scoreless until the 42:50 mark when Jojo Hernandez dribbled through the right side of the box and beat his defender to the endline. His backwards cross linked up with Hernandez-Perez, who took one touch and slotted it past Sunbird goalkeeper Elmer Carballo to the lower right for the 1-0 lead.
It was the first career goal for Hernandez-Perez after entering the game just three and a half minutes earlier. Hernandez picked up his second career assist – and first since 2022.
The Lions extended their lead to 2-0 in the 50th minute. Freshman Adan Alvarado dispossessed a Fresno Pacific player and fired a long ball to Ben Sieber. Sieber latched onto the pass and cut a quick cross to Sidney Dina, all alone on the left. Dina touched it to the lower left for the easy finish, notching his first goal of the season and fifth of his career.
Sieber registered an assist for the second straight game. He has been involved in three of VU's five goals scored in 2024.
Fresno Pacific tried to mount a comeback, but Hay denied several quality attempts. He shut down Fabricio Pozas Saboya in the 69th minute. Pozas Saboya was on the receiving end of a long pass from Sean Williamson, but Hay dived to his right to knock away the low shot.
Hay took on Nick Rivera in a 1v1 showdown in the 77th minute, parrying away a hard shot from inside the 18 to prevent a dangerous scoring opportunity.
The shutout appeared to be intact but the Sunbirds drew a corner kick during the waning seconds of the game. Lucas Rubiero lofted the ball in the vicinity of the far post. Tomas Escobar headed the offering toward the left side of the goal, and Stephan Morris hit another header past Hay for the score with three ticks on the clock. The Sunbirds recorded double assists on the sequence.
VU's four goals allowed to opponents this season have all occurred within the last seven minutes of the last three games.
In addition to attempts from Hernandez-Perez and Dina, Alvarado, Markus Garcia and DJ Kiernan also took a shot in the game.
Bryan Lopez led the Sunbirds with three shots.
What Was Said?: "We were a little nervous to start out," said Head Coach Jesus (Chuy) Miramontes. "We settled in and started to control the game. We created some great chances and our guys were rewarded for their hard work. It was a great team effort and it was exciting to get our first PacWest win in school history."
What's Next?: VU continues its PacWest roadtrip on Saturday against Jessup. Kickoff is scheduled for 11:00 a.m.
