Fresno Pacific opened up the 2012 season with a strong showing at the Whittier Invitational on Saturday, defeating Citrus College 22-7 and falling to NCAA Division III #7 Whittier 11-8.

The Sunbirds (1-1) started off the game with a hard fought game against nationally ranked Whittier. The two teams were deadlocked in a 6-6 tie at halftime, but Whittier would break away by outscoring the Sunbirds 5-1 in the third quarter.

Dan Wilson and Ian Roos each scored twice for the Sunbirds. Jake Finney had seven saves in goal.

"For the first game of the season we played well," said head coach Bryan Suhovy. "We have a lot of new guys and we are still learning how to play together. The third quarter was a rough quarter that they capitalized on and we just couldn't recover in the fourth. This weekend was good because we were able to see some areas we need to improve on as we head into the season.”

The second game was a completely different story as the Sunbirds began to get more accustomed to each other's style of play.

Glenn Lyon, Roos and Daniel Seymour each poured in four goals in the 22-7 win. Wilson and Zlatko Vlasic each added three and Justin Lopez-Lamb finished with two. Finney had seven saves for the second straight game.

The Sunbirds jumped out to a 7-3 lead in the first quarter and extended it to 11-4 by halftime. FPU then ran away with it in the third, going up 18-5.

“The second game the guys felt more comfortable, in sync and set some goals for themselves after the first game," said Suhovy. "They came out firing and never looked back. With each game we play the guys that are going to continue to improve and play better. We're excited for what's to come.”

The Sunbirds are looking forward to their first home game, next Saturday at Sunnyside High, as they take on American River.