HILO, Hawai`i—In a wild, offensive shootout on Monday night at Paiea Stadium, it was Fresno Pacific who had the final bullet in a 3-2 men's soccer win over Hawai`i Hilo.

The Sunbirds, playing their first match of a three-game swing in Hawaii, improved to 6-5 in the Pacific West Conference and to 7-9 overall. The Vulcans dropped to 1-11 in league play and to 1-14 on the year.

It was Fresno Pacific's second consecutive win and they have now also won three of their last four matches.

In the opening moments, it looked like it might be a long night for the Vulcans.

FPU's Sergio Segura took a pair of passes as the match began and then stunned the Vulcans with a rocket from 40 yards out that landed in the top of the goal. Only 33 seconds had elapsed, and the Sunbirds had a 1-0 lead.

They would add to that margin in the 17^th minute when Anthony Velarde took a pass from Felllipe Souza and dropped it into the goal. That quick 2-0 lead looked large with the way the Sunbirds continued to attack the goal and Vulcan keeper Cassidy Dixon.

But has been the case all season, the Vulcans didn't quit. In the 28^th minute, freshman Bryan Reynoso found himself on a breakaway after getting a pass from Jonathan Garcia. Reynoso juked past one defender , bringing out the goalie, then sidestepped the keeper and pushed the ball into an empty goal. It was Reynoso's fifth goal on the season.

Just ten minutes later, UH Hilo added the tying score when Evan Bacani also benefitted from a Garcia pass, working his way around a defender and fired a shot past FPU's Patrick Timmer. That knotted the match at 2-2, which is where the count stayed into halftime.

Both teams kept attacking—UH Hilo would end the match with 13 shots while FPU had 17—but the event looked to be headed to overtime as both defenses kept turning their opponent back. But in the 79^th minute, Gabriel Batista broke the fortress. He received a pass from Hugo Hernandez on the left-hand side and fired a low liner into the lower right-hand corner of the goal past a diving Dixon for what would prove to be the match-winner.

The Vulcans would have one more golden opportunity with just 3:30 left on the clock. Jesus Ortega, who had two scores on Saturday against Dominican, headed a ball in the box towards new FPU keeper Santiago Covvarrubias, but the Sunbird corralled the ball and thus ended the match.

The Vulcans will wrap up the 2017 season this coming Saturday (Nov. 4) at home against Chaminade at 3 p.m. UH Hilo's seniors will be honored in a presentation at the conclusion of the contest.