TURLOCK — Sean Baird scored two goals off the bench to spark the Warriors as Stanislaus State battled to a 2-2 tie against Fresno Pacific to open the 2016 season Thursday night at Warrior Stadium.

Both of Baird's goals were equalizers including an exciting goal with 28 seconds left in regulation to even the score. The Warriors kept their unbeaten streak alive against a successful FPU program as Stan State has gone 3-0-1 in the last four meetings in the series between the two Central Valley sides.

Fresno Pacific had the upper-hand early, taking most of the shots in the first half but it was the Warriors who had the first scoring chance.

Just 1:30 into the contest, Stanislaus was awarded a penalty kick attempt, but Rafael Chavez's try was knocked away by a diving Matias Hernandez to keep the game scoreless.

The Sunbirds would strike first, in the 24th minute, when a Gabriel Batista corner kick was not cleanly cleared away by the Warriors resulting in a Isaiah Asencio score.

Baird, a sophomore from Stockton, tied the score in the 39th minute with Sean Bender and Fermin Chaidez assisting on the play passing through traffic. Baird had just entered the match about four minutes earlier.



In the second half, FPU took the advantage again on a goal by Jose Segura. However, in the final 10 minutes, the momentum shifted in favor of the Warriors on the attack. After a few shot attempts and corner kick chances, Stan State finally even the score in the final seconds.

Joshua Jacobs served in a ball from the far side to find Bender on the opposite corner of the penalty box. Bender then finds Baird in center just 8-yards out for the blast into the net with 28 ticks left.

Baird nearly won the match in the first overtime on a two-against-one play where he had a chance to the near post. However, he appeared to be offside but booted the shot to the left anyway.

In goal, Emerson Lovato picked up five saves. Hernandez finished with three saves for FPU. The Sunbirds out-shot the Warriors, 20-13, in the final count and took 16 corner kicks (against Stanislaus' seven).

Stanislaus State will host another Pacific West team on Saturday when Notre Dame de Namur visits for a 7 p.m. match.