SAN RAFAEL, Calif – Dominican women's soccer surged late, but it was too little too late as they fell to Fresno Pacific University 2-1 at Kennelly Field on Saturday afternoon.

The Penguins (6-7-2, 3-4-1 PacWest) were led by senior Michelle Li, who found the back of the net in the second half to put them within striking distance. Dominican also benefited from the senior leadership of Bailey Kiser, as she attacked the frame five times in the match, with three shots on goal. Goalkeeper Alyssa Ramos finished the match with three saves on five attempts.

The Sunbirds (6-9-1, 6-3-0 PacWest) were led by Mackenzie Reynolds, who contested Ramos with three total shots, two shots on frame and one goal for the day. Tori De Leon also contributed in a big way for the Sunbirds with a goal of her own in the 34th minute. Fresno Pacific's goalkeeper Alex Benevidez ended the match with four saves on Dominican's six shots on goal.

In the 16th minute of the game the Penguins had an opportunity to move ahead of the Sunbirds as a take down inside the box set them up for a penalty kick. Senior Lily Dubuc stepped to the spot and drilled the attempt to the right side, but Benevidez came up with a huge diving save for the Sunbird's to keep the Penguins from capitalizing on the free kick.

The Penguins worked fast to create another chance as Kiser took her defender one-on-one at the top of the box, and placed a shot perfectly under the crossbar. But it was Benevidez again to make a jumping save to bump the ball over the crossbar, and to keep the score at 0-0.

In the 34th minute, the Sunbird's Jessica Dondlinger crossed the ball into the box from the far right flank, as De Leon met the cross with a header which sent the ball past Ramos to give the Sunbirds a 1-0 lead. The Penguins set out to even the score before going into the half as Yasmine Angel's attack ricocheted off the goalpost to the feet of Claire Brown, but Brown's attempt at the put back was met by an FPU defender who made the save in front of the net before the ball could cross the goal line.

The Sunbirds added to their lead in the 60th minute as Nalani Wall took a ball into the box, and slipped it to Reynolds who beat Ramos for the 2-0 lead.

As time was winding down in the second half, head coach Kelly Coffey re-entered some of his seniors to create a late surge of energy with fresh legs. Within minutes, a corner kick taken by senior Alyssa Campbell connected with Li and she headed the ball past the keeper to cut FPU's lead to one in the 78th minute. Despite the rush of energy in the final minutes, the Penguins ran out of time to complete the comeback as they fell to Fresno Pacific, 1-2.

Dominican will have a quick turn-around, as they take on the University of Hawai'I at Hilo for their final home match of the 2018 season on Monday at 2:30 p.m. PDT. Live video and stats will be available online.