Soccer: Fresno Fuego rolls by SF City FC

The Fresno Fuego found its first win under coach Sean Lanigan on Saturday, scoring three times in the second half to roll past SF City FC 5-1 in a Premier Development League match at Chukchansi Park.

Alex Culwell opened the scoring on a corner kick in the 31st minute, as his header took a lucky ricochet off a SF City defender for a 1-0 lead.

SF City’s Johannes Demari was sent off in the 45th minute for a hard tackle that earned him his second yellow card. That set up a free kick that Fuego captain Milton Blanco buried for a 2-0 lead at halftime.

Down to 10 men, SF City stood no chance as Fuego scored three times in the opening 16 minutes on goals from Tony Torres, Christian Chaney and Alvaro Nogales.

Freeze win season opener – Mari Cruz Chapa and Nikki Schrey both scored to lead the Fresno Freeze to a 3-1 win against the visiting San Francisco Nighthawks in the Women’s Premier Soccer League season opener on Saturday.

Soccer action returns to downtown Fresno on Thursday with another Freeze-Fuego doubleheader. The Freeze host Primero de Mayo at 5 p.m. The Fuego will face the Las Vegas Mobsters at 7:30 p.m.

This story was originally published May 14, 2016 at 10:45 PM with the headline "Soccer: Fresno Fuego rolls by SF City FC."