ORANGE, Calif. – Fresno Pacific (7-12) had four competitive games this weekend at the Whittier Tournament, but only came out with one victory. However, the three losses came in hard situations: one in overtime, one with three quarters of goal-for-goal play, and another loosing by one point with a chance to tie in the final seconds.

The Sunbirds began the weekend with a strong note. Against Chaffey, the Sunbirds jumped out fast with a 6-1 lead after the first quarter, and never looked back. The Sunbirds finished 18-6 in a blowout. Three different Sunbirds scored three goals: Gabe Calderon, Charlie Marusich and Tim Kahn. Caleb Goings and Riley Warner each played a half and each racked in 6 saves. Warner also had 2 steals and an assist in the field.

The second game, against host-team Whittier, began much like the first; Fresno Pacific came out with a 4-0 lead after one quarter, and maintained a 8-5 lead after three. Assistant coach Michael Urrutia explains, “We came out strong, but [Whittier] finished stronger.” The Sunbirds gave up a 5-1 quarter in the fourth to finish behind 9-10.

Luke MacAlpine had an amazing 5 goals, while Goings stopped 11 shots.

In their previous meeting the Sunbirds won in overtime, in which the Sunbirds tied the game with 0:30 seconds remaining. Again, the Sunbirds had a shot with 0:30 seconds remaining, but failed to convert, missing the net by inches.

On Sunday, the Sunbirds couldn't come out firing as they had on Saturday, and let Cal Baptist jump out to a 5-2 lead. In the second quarter, the Lancers got out to a five point lead, where the game became a shootout as both teams responded to every goal with their own. Kahn led the Sunbirds with 2 goals, and Warner and Goings had 5 and 4 saves, respectively.

The Sunbirds' final game against Occidental went into overtime, which came from a Sunbirds' comeback after trailing 1-3 after the first quarter. However, Occidental put up three quick goals in overtime to win 9-7. The Sunbirds played great defense, according the coach Urrutia, led by Warner in the cage with 16 saves; the Sunbirds held Occidental to only 5 goals in regulation.

Kriztian Kovacs and MacAlpine both had 2 goals to lead the Sunbirds. MacAlpine, the only Sunbird to score in all four games, finished the weekend with 10 goals.

Next up for the Sunbirds are Merced City College on Wednesday and a rematch of Sunday's shootout against Cal Baptist on Friday. Wednesday's game will begin at 6:00 p.m.