DAVIS, Calif. – Senior Luca Baltzer extended his point streak to three games as the Pacific men's soccer program scored a goal each half to secure a 2-1 win over UC Davis on Thursday night at Aggie Soccer Field.

The Tigers (2-5) bounced back for their first road victory of the 2025 campaign as Baltzer and sophomore Muharif Abdul-Kadir found the back of the net against the Aggies (0-4-3).

"I'm happy for the guys," Pacific head coach Adam Reeves said. "We've been working really hard both on and off the field psychologically and fortunately it paid off tonight. Unfortunately, we've been on the wrong end of some tough results recently where maybe the result didn't dictate the true way of the game. Everybody contributed tonight and we are looking forward to building off of this."

Baltzer capitalized on a giveaway by a UC Davis defender in the box and cashed in his second goal of the season. Baltzer's tally was the second road goal of his career and third across his two season as a Tiger. His goal in the 22nd minute leveled the playing field at one apiece.

Abdul-Kadir placed himself in a perfect position following a cross by sophomore Ezekiel Padilla and buried a header to give Pacific a 2-1 lead in the 60th minute. It was the first career goal for the native of Accra, Ghana while Padilla picked up his first career assist. 

In his seventh start of the 2025 campaign in goal, junior Mateus Ruiz-Hurst conceded an early goal, but kept his composure in not letting any more changes go in. Ruiz-Hurst handled several shot attempts by the Aggies with ease in the latter stages of the contest, ultimately holding on for his first road win and second career victory.

Despite their opponent out-shooting by a 10-7 margin, the Tigers collected more shots on target with a 5-2 edge in that category. Padilla led Pacific with three shot attempts with two of those on goal.

With the victory, the Tigers earn their third straight victory in the series history with the Aggies. Thursday's win improves the head-to-head record to 4-4 since 2015.

Pacific returns to action and plays its penultimate non-conference contest of the regular season on Sunday at 6 p.m. against San Jose State at Knoles Field. The Tigers and Spartans settled for a 1-1 draw when the two crossed paths during the 2023 season.

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