Box Score
FRESNO — For the second straight year the Cal State Stanislaus men's team took on Fresno Pacific to begin the season. And for the second consecutive time, the Warriors were victorious.
Josh Handley and
Luis Guzman scored goals for the Warriors as they beat the Sunbirds, 2-1, on Thursday.
Fresno Pacific, the defending GSAC Champions, is in its first season in the Pacific West Conference. The Sunbirds, with 10 starters returning, are expected to be a highly regarded team in Division II's West Region.
Thursday night's win followed last year's season-opening, 4-1, Stanislaus win over Fresno Pacific in Turlock.
Despite being out-shot 14-9, the Warriors made the attempts count scoring on two of three shots on goals. Handley gave Stanislaus an early lead scoring on a
Nolan Holdridge corner kick at 11:46.
The score held until the second half when in the 57th minute, Guzman knocked in a score from a
Carlos Gavino corner.
Defensively, the Warriors held Fresno Pacific in check. The Sunbirds managed just three scoring chances out of their 14 tries with
Clint Long earning two saves. FPU got on the board in the 88th minute on a 10-yard shot from the left side by Alvaro Nogales.
Cal State Stanislaus originally had the rest of the week off but fortunately picked up a neutral site contest on Saturday against UC-Colorado Springs in San Rafael. UCCS was scheduled to face Humboldt State on the campus of Dominican but got a match-up with the Warriors after HSU cancelled its men's soccer season.
The Warriors-UCCS contest is at 11 a.m. Saturday at Dominican's Forest Meadows Field.
