• Final Stats

SEATTLE – Pedro Velasquez scored on a header in the 77th minute on Thursday, his second goal of the game, as No. 23-ranked Cal State Dominguez Hills came from behind to beat No. 10 Fresno Pacific in the first round of the NCAA Division II men's soccer tournament, 3-2.
 
The Toros (15-2-3), seeded third in the six-team West Regional and champions of the California Collegiate Athletic Association, return to Interbay Stadium for a second-round game against No. 2 seed and host Seattle Pacific on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. The Falcons are ranked No. 7 in Division II and are champions of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
 
Fresno Pacific, winners of the Pacific West Conference and playing in its first NCAA tournament since moving up from NAIA in 2012, finished its season at 14-3-2.
 
Cal State Dominguez Hills came from 2-1 down in the second half to pull out the victory in rainy, cool conditions.
 
The game winner came at the 76:49 mark. Matt Michell, who also had an assist on Dominguez Hills' equalizer, sent the ball down the right side to Gabriel Rivera. Playing just out of the penalty area on the right side near the goal line, Rivera sent a target ball across the goalmouth. It floated toward the top left corner of the 6-yard box, where Velasquez went up and nodded it into the back right corner for his eighth goal of the year.
 
"We talked about it at halftime. We were trying to get it to the first post," Velasquez said. "So right when I was trying to get it, I kind of checked out and made a run for the first post. The (defender) didn't anticipate it, and the guy was too late to the ball. I headed it in, and I was lucky it went in."
 
Israel Murguia drew the Toros even early in the second half, taking a well-placed through ball from Michell, then going into the left side of the box and letting go with a shot from 12 yards away that flew into the far corner at 51:11.
 
"That was huge," said Toros coach Joe Flanagan, in his 22nd year at the helm. "I thought it just relaxed us. We were definitely tight in the first half. We said it wasn't our best half, but we were only down 2-1 and we have 45 minutes left, so just to relax and play our game. To get that early goal took a little weight off of our shoulders. We really dictated play in the second half and created some good opportunities."
 
Velasquez gave Cal State Dominguez Hills a 1-0 lead just 65 seconds into the game. Ehi Isibor, playing in the left side of the box, sent the ball across the turf to Jose Vaca, who was at the right post. Vaca could have taken a point-blank shot. But with Fresno Pacific goalkeeper Andrew Luis coming toward him, he directed the ball back across the 6-yard box to Valesquez for an easy tap-in at the left post.
 
Fresno Pacific leveled it at the 10:37 mark. A Sunbirds corner kick was knocked away from the net out toward the top of the box. Eli Gallegos ran onto it before anyone else could get there, and from 19 yards straight in front drilled it into the back left corner.
 
Alvaro Nogales gave Fresno Pacific a 2-1 lead on a penalty kick at 33:13 after teammate Dylan Rusconi was taken down just inside the top of the penalty area. Nogales sent a left-footed shot into the back right corner past Dominguez Hills goalkeeper Chase Gentry for his ninth goal of the year.
 
The Sunbirds nearly made it 3-1 with 24 minutes left in the game. From the top right corner of the 6-yard box, Benjamin Cowdrill went up for a header that was nodded toward the inside of the far post, only to be cleared off the line by Dominguez midfielder D'morea Alewine.
 
The teams combined for 28 shots in the back-and-forth game – 17 for Dominguez Hills, 11 for Fresno Pacific.
 
"It's one of those games that teaches you a lot about this level," said Jaime Ramirez, in his 26th year of coaching the Sunbirds. "When you're new to this level and you experience this, you understand that it takes the full 90 minutes of commitment and staying organized and being true to your style and system. And it takes recognizing the adjustments your opponent makes, particularly in the second half.

"They took away our playmaking ability, and we had to rely on different aspects of the game and different individuals to make plays for us."

Andrew was credited with five saves for Fresno Pacific and his Toros counterpart, Chase Gentry, stopped two shots.