STOCKTON, Calif. – The Pacific men's soccer program picked up its first win of the 2025 campaign, defeating Utah Tech, 2-1, on Sunday night at Knoles Field.

In the first all-time meeting between the Tigers (1-2) and the Trailblazers (0-2-2), freshman Josephat Yangyuoru gave the Pacific offense life while the defense countered the late push by the visitors to seal the victory.

"I thought we had a great week of training in preparation for tonight, and that carried over into the game, which I was proud of," Pacific head coach Adam Reeves said. "We could have done better with our chances in the first half, but our guys showed a lot of resilience down a man late there with 20 minutes left, but we held on and take the result."

Yangyuoru scored the first Tigers' goal of the 2025 season, collecting a rebound off a header from sophomore and fellow countryman Muharif Adbul-Kadir and burying it for a 1-0 lead before halftime.

While Yangyuoru and Abdul-Kadir each recorded their first career points as Tigers, sophomore Carlos Maldonado was also credited with a secondary assist on his feed into the box during the scoring routine. For Maldonado, the assist marks the first of his career and first point since a goal on Sept. 25, 2024, against Cal State Bakersfield.

On the defensive end, junior Mateus Ruiz-Hurst was a key factor in goal, notching his first career win with four saves under his belt, including three during the second half where the Trailblazers were attacking for a majority of the time.

The Tigers took a 1-0 edge and a 7-2 shot advantage into the halftime break and padded their lead on an own goal in the 54th minute for a 2-0 cushion. While it ultimately goes down as an own goal, the pressure by Yangyuoru and sophomore Montgomery Carey played a role in forcing the Trailblazer defender to kick the ball past their own goalkeeper.

Utah Tech would respond moments later in the 60th minute on a broken play in the box, cutting Pacific's lead in half. The Trailblazers continued to press offensively for the rest of the match, but the Tigers' defense stood tall and denied any more key looks on Ruiz-Hurst.

With the 2-1 victory in the first game of the year at Knoles Field, the Tigers have now won three straight home openers and own an 9-3 record in home openers since 2014.

Pacific looks to carry that momentum tonight into its next tilt, trekking to Maryland for its lone match of next week in College Park on Saturday. Kick-off is scheduled for a 4 p.m. PT start time.

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