Box Score
TURLOCK -- The soccer match fans at Warrior Stadium saw in the first half Saturday was definitely not the same match they saw in the second half.
After a very quiet 0-0 deadlock 45 minutes in, both Cal State Stanislaus and Frenso Pacific exploded for 45 minutes of back-and-forth soccer, with the Warriors coming out on top for their first regular season victory in their first regular season game of 2009, 2-1, over the Sunbirds.
The victory moves the Warriors to 1-0-0 on the season and drops Fresno Pacific to 0-1-0. The win is the first at Cal State Stanislaus for new head coach
Dana Taylor.
"We all worked on a plan," junior forward
Victor Regalado said.
Regalado scored both of the Warriors' goals in the second half. Regalado's first strike came in the 57th minute when
Schad Tenbroeck had the ball inside the goalie box and crossed it to his teammate.
Regalado turned with the ball to get by a defender and shot left, just getting the ball inside the post for a 1-0 lead.
"We played great," Regalado said. "Everybody goes in hard and we know our roles."
Regalado's first goal broke up a long stretch of uneventful soccer. Throughout the first half, both teams only took one shot on goal each and had only nine total shots between them. There were only three total corner kicks in the first half.
"I thought our guys were a bit nervous in the first 15 minutes of the game," said Taylor. "Fresno Pacific did a good job of moving the ball on us in the first 15-20 minutes."
Regalado lit up the scoreboard again five minutes later in the 62nd minute. A sliding tackle by
Jose Velasquez broke the ball loose from a Fresno Pacific defender. Regalado was in the right place at the right time and snagged the ball, dribbled towards the 'keeper on a 1-on-1 situation and put it in the net for goal No. 2 in the game and a 2-0 lead.
"I wasn't sure where the ball was going to land but luckily it ended up at my feet," Regalado said.
Fresno Pacific came out firing in the second half but had trouble finding the net. The Sunbirds took just four shots in the first half, but took 14 in the second half alone. Only three of those 14 shots ended up on goal.
The Sunbirds would get their offensive chances via penalty kicks in the second half. The first penalty kick was awarded with about 20 minutes left in the game. Fresno Pacific's Nehemias Blanco shot left but second half goalkeeper
Steven Waite dove and made the save to keep the Sunbirds off the board.
The second penalty kick came via a handball in the box by the Warriors in the 87th minute. This time, Victor Machado put it in the goal to cut the lead to 2-1. The Warriors fended off a frantic attack by Fresno Pacific and managed to keep the ball in the offensive side of the field for the final three minutes of the game.
"I was disappointed in our ability to finish the game at the most critical point of the game due to our lack of fitness," Taylor said.
The Warriors next play at 7 p.m. Thursday at Warrior Stadium versus George Fox University.