"Ro Ro" got the season rolling.

Midfielder Rodrigo Lopez scored twice and striker Artur Aghasyan added a spectacular goal in his debut as the Ventura County Fusion won for the first time in its second Premier Development League season, 3-0, against the defending Southwestern Division champion Fresno Fuego on Friday night at Buena High.

Both goal scorers tallied highlight goals from 25 yards as the Fusion (1-2-2) won for the first time since July 11, 2007, a string of six winless matches.

The Fusion can reach .500 with a home win Sunday over the San Francisco Dons.

"The team had been playing well," said Lopez. "We had just too much talking."

There wasn't much left to say after a complete performance which left one of the top teams in the division speechless. The Fuego (3-2-1) entered play in second place, even on 10 points with San Jose and Los Angeles.

"This is the most energized we've played this season," said goalkeeper Logan Frank. "We beat them with our energy in the first half."

The Fusion got off to a storming start against the Fuego, which reached the PDL's Final Four last year behind the national Most Valuable Player, Brazilian striker Pablo Campos.

Attacker Gabriel Farfan, who scored twice in the Fusion's 3-2 win over Fresno last May, returned from a series of trials with French professional clubs to make his mark. Farfan earned the 10th-minute penalty kick from which Lopez opened the scoring.

"I turned inside when (the defender) thought I was going to turn outside," said Farfan. "He just hit me from behind."

Lopez made it 2-0 Ventura County six minutes into the second half, driving forward into space to slice a 25-yard right-footed shot into the upper-right corner of Fresno's goal.

"That's a goal I haven't scored in a long time," said the former CD Chivas USA midfielder. "Once I hit it, I knew it was going somewhere in the goal."

Lopez looked like he'd have a chance at a hat trick when he earned a penalty kick with 10 minutes to play, but captain Alfonso Motalgalvan took the ball and rolled the spotkick beyond the left post.

"He's our captain and he wanted the kick," said Lopez, shrugging. "I'm just trying to get the entire team involved."

Aghasyan, who cleared a ball off the Fusion's line in the 49th minute after a Fresno corner, completed an excellent debut with a spectacular drive with five minutes to play.

It was the capper on a difficult week, which began with head coach Graham Smith releasing former Thousand Oaks High star Jason Leopoldo.

"I don't know what Jason's deal was," said Lopez, who grew up playing with Leopoldo. "But we miss him a lot. You can't afford to lose players like that.

"But the team responded well tonight."