Merced, Calif. - The Sunbirds fell to West Valley 12-8, before defeating Merced, 20-2 in a pair of matches . 

In the opening quarter against West Valley, Zlatko Vlasic buried two goals and David Maes added another to take an early lead 3-1. West Valley put four in the back of the net to take the lead into the half.

West Valley struck first scoring early in the third quarter, Maes answered back quickly for the Sunbirds. Justin Lopez-Lamb contributing his first for the day matching West Valley's second. Then West Valley scored two-unanswered within a minute. Vlasic ended the quarter sending another goal past the goalie. Lopez-Lamb scored his second goal on the day less than a minute into the final quarter. However, this would be the last goal by the Sunbirds. West Valley went on the score three unanswered goals winning the game 12-8. 

The Sunbirds returned to the pool taking on host Merced. Having an explosive first quarter with six goals by six players. Merced finally got on the scoreboard before Joseph Graveley added his first goal for the day. Maes started the scoring in the second quarter followed by three more unanswered goals by the Sunbirds. The Sunbirds took a 11-1 lead into the intermission. 

Coming out strong again in the third quarter scoring three more goals while not allowing Merced to get on the board. Taking a 14-1 lead into the final quarter. The Sunbirds took their advantage and never backed down scoring an additional six goals in the final quarter. Merced was able to slip another one by with just over a minute left. Maes added three more goals to his day and Daniel Seymour contributed a goal in each quarter. The team enjoyed a solid 20-2 victory.

"We played strong against West Valley," said Coach Suhovey. "We created a lot of opportunities but had trouble finishing. Against Merced, we came out strong and never looked back."

The Sunbirds will be back in action on November 16 in Riverside taking on Concordia then California Baptist.