FRESNO, Calif. – Dominican men's soccer was unable to overcome Fresno Pacific's hot start, as they fell 4-2 Saturday night at Ramirez Field.
 
Senior Wilson Briggs led the Penguins' (3-4-2, 0-1-1 PacWest) offense with his sixth goal of the season and four shots on goal. Senior goalkeeper William Finnie started for Dominican and finished the match with four total saves.
 
Anthony Velarde led the Sunbirds (5-1-1, 2-1-0 PacWest) with one goal and two assists on the night. Goalkeeper Patrick Timmer made six saves for the home team to collect the victory.
 
FPU got off to a quick start as Velarde dribbled into the box and sent a ball to Reece Rivera who beat the keeper for the 1-0 lead in the fifth minute. Velarde continued to make his mark on the first half when he stole the ball from Dominican in the backline, turned and fired to the lower right corner of the net to make it 2-0 two minutes later.
 
Dominican looked to close the gap in the 10th minute as Diego Vasquez put a shot on frame, but was turned aside by Timmer. The rebound fell back to Vasquez, but his shot went high. Briggs got into the action four minutes later as he found space to test Timmer once again, but Timmer made the save to keep the Sunbirds two goal lead.
 
Greg Natt came on as a sub in the 28th minute and made an immediate impact, finding a loose ball in the box and putting it home to cut the Sunbird lead to 2-1. Miguel Maldonado had a chance to level the match for Dominican on a set piece in the 39th minute, but Timmer made the save to keep the one-goal lead heading into the half. 
 
The Sunbirds controlled possession early in the second half keeping the pressure on the Penguins backline. Velarde picked up his second assist of the game as he dribbled into the box and slipped a pass past the defenders to Eric Sanchez who beat Finnie one-on-one to regain the two-goal advantage in the 64th minute. FPU continued to press and Bruno Brumati found Chan for a shot off the crossbar and in to make it 4-1 in the 75th minute.
 
The Penguins got back on track after the goal, holding the ball in the attacking third for nearly three minutes and earning three corner kicks, but they were unable to find a goal. Briggs kept pushing and in the 87th minute he took a ball into the box and beat Timmer one-on-one for the final goal of the game.
 
Dominican hit the pitch at Kennelly Field on Friday at noon PDT as it resumes conference play against Chaminade. The Penguins will be celebrating Faculty Appreciation Day, and encourage all faculty members to join in attendance, as the team acknowledges those who have impacted their academic and athletic careers at Dominican. Live video and stats will be available online.