The Ventura County Fusion men's soccer team missed its opportunity to leap into first place in the Southwestern Division Thursday night in Fresno.

The Fusion's Kyle Kaveny and the Fuego's Nehemias Blanco exchanged headed goals midway through the second half as the visiting Fusion drew the Fresno Fuego, 1-1, at Chukchansi Park.

A win would have pushed the Fusion (6-1-4) over first-place Hollywood United (7-2-2) and Los Angeles Legends (7-2-2) by a single point.

That looked like the destination for the Fusion just past the hour mark, when Kaveny rose to head home a Hagop Chirishian corner kick for his first goal in a Fusion shirt.
Chirishian leads the team with three assists.

The Fusion return home for a doubleheader Saturday night at Buena High. The Fusion women (1-2-2) host defending W-League champion Pali Blues (4-0-3) at 5:30 p.m. while the Fusion men follow with a match against the BYU Cougars.