FRESNO, Calif. – The effort and the perseverance was there but unfortunately for the Cougars the result wasn't what they desired.

Fresno Pacific got two goals in the later stages of the second half to notch a 2-1 conference win on Saturday evening.

"We played really well tonight. I thought we did a lot of things well tonight but unfortunately we didn't get the result we wanted," said head coach Dave Blomquist. "I really can't say enough about how much I'm pleased with the guys efforts tonight. We came close on a handful of shots that were nearly goals but either glanced off the post or went wide."

The Sunbirds, who came into the contest in second place in the league, scored the first goal in the 74th minute when Alvaro Nogales took a feed from Renato Bustamante which beat Cougar goal keeper Tyler Jaramillo.

Less than seven minutes later Bustamante scored what proved to be the game winner. After nice passes from Anthony Velarde and Eli Gallegos, Bustamante found the back of the net for his sixth goal of the season.

The Cougars got themselves back in position to rally after Callum Wallace scored his fourth goal of the season in the 84th season. Caleb Candelaria played the ball through the Sunbirds defense in front of the goal where Wallace gained control and deposited the ball into the back of the cage.

The home team held a slight edge in total shots (14-11) while each team took five corner kicks. Cesar Santos and Jesus Arteaga each had a team best three shots for the Cougars.

Saturday's game was the first of three game conference road swing. Azusa Pacific travels to the Bay Area on Thursday for a contest against Notre Dame de Namur.