Stockton, Calif. - The Pacific Field Hockey team opened its new on campus Edelgass turf facility on Friday, falling to the No. 12 Albany Great Danes by a final score of 2-0. Albany moves to 4-1 while the Tigers fall to 3-4 on the young season following the loss in the 2014 home opener.

The Tigers were boosted by a true home crowd for the first time since the 2012 season, feeding off the energy of the 333 fans in attendance despite the blistering heat.  Due to the 97 degree temperature, the game was played with a water break inserted at the halfway point of each period.

The Great Danes struck first, scoring in the eighth minute off of their first penalty corner opportunity. Fiori Van Rijswijk inserted to Laura Page, who stopped the ball, setting up a shot for Paula Heuser, who struck for a 1-0 advantage to the visitors.

Pacific goalkeeper Laura Pujade made four first-half saves for the Tigers, keeping her team close in the match against one of the nation's top teams despite eight first half shots by Albany.

The Great Danes struck for another goal in the second half, as Heuser dribbled into the circle and fired a shot from distance, besting Pujade for a 2-0 advantage in the 58th minute.

The Tigers had perhaps their two best scoring opportunity of the contest within a matter of minutes. In the 64th minute, sophomore Kyleigh Morrison's shot was saved with a diving attempt by Maxi Primus and in the 66th minute, after the Tigers were awarded a penalty corner, Savannah Burns saw her shot sail just high of the cage.

Overall, Pacific tallied eight shots and two penalty corners, while Pujade was stellar in the cage, making 10 saves to match a career high.

 Burns led the way for the Tigers with three shots and freshman Emma Leach registered her first career defensive save in the first half.

Head Coach Andy Smith said of his team's performance against Albany, "It was great to play on-campus for the first time in two years and I think we played well against what is undoubtedly a top ten team. We made a couple of costly errors on both sides of the field today but I couldn't be prouder of this team. We are more competitive than we've ever been and It's another step on our journey."

The Tigers will be back in action on home turf at 10:30 am against the No. 7 Iowa Hawkeyes. Live video streaming and live stats links will be avaliable via PacificTigers.com