SPOKANE, WASH. – Behind junior
Jose Maria Barrera's first career multi-point night, the Pacific men's soccer program secured a 2-0 victory over Gonzaga Saturday at Luger Field.
Fueled by Barrera's strong second-half performance and senior
Joshua Moya's clean sheet, the Tigers (3-8-4, 1-5-1 WCC) earned their fourth consecutive victory over the Bulldogs (6-10-2, 0-8 WCC) going back to 2021. Pacific is now 6-4-1 all-time against Gonzaga.
"I'm really happy for the group," head coach
Adam Reeves said. "Having Vinzent and Kai back was a massive lift and for Kai to get the first goal was fantastic. Jose Maria's influence throughout the game was extremely positive and you can tell how much he missed Vinzent and the relationship they had together. We didn't start great, but we finally got into the game and were pretty good from there on. Defending the box and getting a shutout was a positive result."
Barrera ignited the Tigers offense, dishing out an assist on the game's opening goal in the second half by graduate student
Kai Sullivan and later redirecting a pass to the back of the net for his second goal of the season. The native of Stockton, California finished the night with a goal and an assist while registering a team-high two shots on goal.
Senior
Joshua Moya posted his fourth shutout of the year, totaling seven saves, including a key stop in the late stages of the second half to hold onto the clean sheet. Through 14 starts this season, Moya's .783 save percentage and 4.80 saves per game ranks first in the West Coast Conference.
Six Tigers played the full length of the match with Moya, graduate student
Javier Chavez, junior
Luca Baltzer, junior
Matteo Carbone, junior
Jacob Heisner and graduate student
Ignacio Flores III competing for 90 minutes.
The Tigers, who picked up the pace offensively with a 5-4 shot advantage in the second half, capitalized in the 55th minute as Barrera connected with Sullivan for his first goal of the season.
Pacific continued to apply pressure in Gonzaga's space. A cross by junior
Danny Govea found Carbone jumping up on the attack. Carbone found Barrera for a redirection goal to double up his team's lead to 2-0 in the 77th minute.
The Bulldogs looked for an opportunity to counter late in the contest, but Moya and the Tigers' lead held their ground for the victory in the road finale in Spokane.
Carrying momentum into the final match of the 2024 season, Pacific returns home for Senior Night, facing Saint Mary's at 7 pm at Knoles Field.
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