The Ventura County Fusion regained first place in the Premier Development League's Southwest Division Wednesday by winning 5-1 at the Southern California Seahorses.

The Fusion (5-1-1) has won five straight PDL matches by an average margin of more than three goals per game.

"We've have a run of good scoring games," Fusion coach Ole Mikkelsen said.
With 16 points from seven matches, it holds a slender lead over FC Tucson (15 points, six matches) and Orange County Blue Star (14 points, eight matches).

That means tonight's trip to face the Blue Star at Concordia University in Irvine is a key match.

"It should be a tough game and the start time (5 p.m.) offers a few challenges," said Mikkelsen.

The Fusion then will wrap up its regular season Saturday night against the visiting Los Angeles Legends at the Ventura College Sportsplex.

A pair of Fresno wins has seen the defending Southwest Division champion drop into second place, a point behind the Fuego, 36-35. To defend its title, the Fusion will have to win Saturday and hope the Fuego fail to win Saturday at the Southern California Seahorses and Sunday at the Legends.

A second-place finish wouldn't just mean missing out on the division title, but would set up a rematch of last year's postseason meeting with Kitsap, which the Fusion lost on penalty kicks.

The two score draws over the weekend couldn't have been more different.

At the L.A. Blues, Danny Barrera set up forward Callum Riley for a 36th-minute lead. But Carlos Aguilar equalized from the penalty spot three minutes into second half stoppage time.

"It didn't seem as those any contact was made," said Shergill. "We also had a lot of chances as well. Their goalkeeper (Chris Lara) made a lot of great saves and we missed a lot of chances. It's unfortunate to give up a late goal like that."

Two nights later, the Seahorses took the lead in the ninth minute as Billy Fellow headed home from a scramble off an early corner kick.

Once again, Barrera assisted on a Riley goal to even the score six minutes later, but the Fusion could not produce a winner.

"One thing about the Seahorses, they've always had a very organized team," said Shergill. "They got the early goal and they really tried to pack it in and make it difficult for us to play."

With 13 points from five matches, Ventura County (4-0-1) finds itself a point back of Fresno (4-0-2) with a match in hand.

The defending Southwest Division champion can return atop the standings Saturday night with a win against the host Southern California Seahorses at La Mirada High.

But the road trip holds greater importance. It will determine whether the Fusion qualify for the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup for the second straight year.

Fresno has swept its four qualifiers with a plus-10 goal difference. Having swept its three qualifiers with a plus-9 goal difference, the Fusion can qualify from its eight-team group by winning by a two-goal margin or by scoring three or more goals in a win.

Thiago Silva and Brent Whitfield combined to score for the third straight game and Bryan Hill again kept the opposition off the scoreboard as the Ventura County Fusion extended its season-opening winning streak to three matches with a 1-0 win over the Southern California Seahorses Saturday night at Biola University.

The Fusion (3-0) has maximum points through three matches, having scored nine goals and conceded none.

"Not a bad start," said Fusion coach Ole Mikkelson. " What do you think?"

Hill, the Fusion goalkeeper, went the whole way for the club's third straight shutout.

"The clean sheet is probably the thing that I'm really most impressed with," said Mikkelson." We really did knuckle down.

"We had some good scoring chances that we didn't put away and, at halftime, we had to ask the guys to step it up."

Two minutes into the second half, Silva, the creative midfielder, dribbled into space and, as the defense collapsed on him, unleashed a through ball for Whitfield to control atop the 18-yard box.

Whitfield, the reigning Premier Development League Player of the Week, cut across the face of goal and finished a low shot through a defender's legs for his sixth goal in three matches.

In a meeting of the only two Southwestern Division teams to open the season 2-0, the Fusion showed the ability to grind out a result in the second half on the road.

"Those are some important skills to have," said Mikkelson.

Ventura County also improved to 3-0 in U.S. Open Cup competition. A home win over
the Hollywood United Hitman May 28 will see the four-year-old franchise in the nation's oldest soccer competition for the first time, which is one of the season's top goals.

But first, the Fusion look towards a pair of home games this weekend at Buena High, hosting the Seahorses Friday and Fresno Fuego Sunday, May 22.