Thursday, October 21, 2004
Final: Vanguard 5, #6 FPU 2

Box score

Costa Mesa - The Vanguard University Lions drubbed the Fresno Pacific University Sunbirds 5-2 in Golden State Athletic Conference soccer action in Costa Mesa this evening.

The loss eliminated any slim hope the Sunbirds may have fostered about repeating as GSAC champions. It also negatively impacts FPU's postseason aspirations, just how much remains to be seen.

Armondo Ortiz scored just 25 seconds into the contest on a penalty kick. Matt Hess made it 2-0 in the 14th minute. Nathan Kramer scored 13 minutes later.

That made it 3-0 at the break, and for all intents and purposes, it was over.

"We were very shaky defensively in the first half," said FPU head coach Jaime Ramirez, "And they took advantage of that. We laid an egg."

FPU came out strong in the second half and got back into it when Fabricio Codeceira found Eddie Gutierrez in the 49th minute.

That made it 3-1, but any hope for a dramatic comeback ended 19 minutes later. In a three minute span Kramer (68th minute) and Hess (71st minute) both notched their second goals of the night. That made it 5-1 with less than 20 minutes to play.

"I think this is their best team ever," continued Ramirez. "It certainly is the best one I have seen. They got the ball to the right people offensively and defensively they battled for every ball."

Jared Dugger headed in a Codeceira service in the 83rd minute to close the scoring.

"We've got to get things turned around if we plan to go deep into the playoffs," said Ramirez. "We have to get back to the drawing board and we don't have much time."

The loss keeps the Sunbirds in third place, a half-game ahead of Biola. The Eagles dropped a 2-1 score at front-runner Azusa Pacific earlier today.

FPU will host California Baptist (4-7-1, 2-5-0 GSAC) Saturday at Steinert Field. Kick-off time is 7:00 PM.

Updated records
Fresno Pacific: 12-2-1, 4-2-1
Vanguard: 13-4-0, 7-1-0

Updated series record
FPU leads 28-7-1

Series scoring
FPU leads 104-44