For the third and fourth time this season the Sunbirds came within three goals of toppling a ranked opponent in a pair of losses to No. 19 Harvard and No. 20 Bucknell.

"We made some defensive changes that really seemed to impact the games today," said head coach Bryan Suhovy.

A sluggish start against No. 19 Harvard doomed the Sunbirds who fell behind 4-1 after the first quarter. The defense stiffened up allowing one goal in the second quarter. The third quarter was dominated by the offense of the FPU with four players scoring in the frame.  Senior Jake Finney did not allow a goal in the final quarter, but the comeback bid came up just short. Daniel Seymour led the way with two goals offensively while Stephen Chafi, Zlatko Vlasic and Joesph Gravely each added a goal in the loss.
 
In second match, the Sunbirds started slowly offensively, but a stingy defense kept FPU within striking distance. Finney kept the team within four goals at halftime with superb play in goal. FPU fought their way back during the second half out scoring Brown 5-4. Red-shirt sophomore David Maes and freshman John Samson scored in the second half for the Sunbirds. However, the second half efforts were not enough in the 9-6 loss.


Red-shirt junior Justin Lopez-Lamb scored three goals on the day, but early match goals seemed to be the difference maker.
 
"We came out a little bit sluggish yesterday," said Suhovy. "But the adjustments we made on defense really helped. The defense took ownership over the transition and the press, putting us in better positions on offensive side. Each year is an improvement and we have young players really stepping up right now. I'm really happy with their performance."
 
FPU returns regular season play taking on West Valley and Merced on Friday in Merced, Calif.