In its second meeting with a nationally ranked Concordia squad, Fresno Pacific gave the #20 Eagles quite a game before falling 15-10 at the NAIA Invite in Riverside.

Evan Baird led the Sunbirds with four goals, Glenn Lyon added three and Riley Warner kept FPU in it all game with 11 saves in goal.

"This was the most focused and intense we've played all season," said Warner. "Despite the outcome, I'm very pleased with our performance and proud of our team."

The Sunbirds, seeded No. 3 in the four team tournament, fell behind 4-1 in the first quarter agains the second-seeded Eagles, but Ian Roos and Lyon brought the score back to 4-3 at the first break.

CUI would extend the lead to 7-4 in the second quarter, before Baird closed the gap 22 seconds before halftime making the score 7-5.

The third quarter is what ultimately sunk the Sunbirds as the team surrendered four unanswered goals to start the second half. Baird stopped the run with a goal with just over a minute left in the quarter, but CUI added one of their own to make it 12-7 heading into the fourth.

Stephen Chafi and Sascha Ludwig gave the Sunbirds new life to start the fourth, each delivering goals to make it a 12-9 game. CUI would answer with three straight though to put the game out of reach.

In the first meeting this season with Concordia, FPU was defeated 13-6.

"I'm proud of my teammates because they came prepared, left it all in the pool, and played Concordia to the closest we ever have," said Lyon after the game.

FPU (8-18) faces top-seed Cal Baptist at 9 am tomorrow morning, a team that has defeated FPU four times this season. The Lancers won the last meeting between the two teams 17-5 in Fresno. FPU then concludes the tournament with a 1 pm game against Vanguard, who the Sunbirds knocked off 13-8 last month.