Pacific Men's Soccer Drops Opener At UC Riverside

The Pacific men's soccer team took the field for the first time since 1985, but suffered a 5-1 defeat at UC Riverside in the season opener.

Tristan Blackmon scored the lone goal for Pacific, putting home his own rebound off the post in the 64th minute.

The Highlanders opened with a goal from Jonathan Tovar in the 12th minute, who finished a cross just inside the box from 17 yards away for his first of the season.

In the 21st minute, Michael Salazar stretched the lead to 2-0 as he intercepted a pass and converted a shot from 20 yards away.

After halftime, Salazar struck again in the 57th minute before Blackmon got the Tigers on the board.

Blackmon's shot off the post ricocheted back to him and he finished into the open net to cut the margin to 3-1 with 26 minutes left.

But Salazar answered right back, completing the hat trick under a minute later. The Highlanders capped the scoring on a penalty kick goal from Juan Mendoza in the 73rd minute.

Josh Adachi made five saves in 68 minutes, while Curtis Goldsmith recorded two saves in the final 22 minutes. The Highlanders out-shot Pacific 26-7. Ashkan Khosravi made a pair of saves in goal for UC Riverside.

The Tigers fall to 0-1-0 on the year, while Riverside improves to 1-0-0. Pacific will face No. 18 UC Irvine on Sunday at 7 p.m. on the road.