FRESNO, Calif. – Daniel Seymour buried a goal with 28 seconds remaining to power Fresno Pacific over visiting Concordia 16-15 Friday night at Sunnyside Aquatics Center. The Sunbirds also received six goals from David Maes in an offensive thriller.

FPU entered the night 0-19 all-time against the Eagles, who are currently receiving votes in the national poll. The Sunbirds improve to 9-6 overall with the win, while Concordia falls to 6-10 on the season.

"For the morale, for the belief, this is a huge win for us," said head coach Bryan Suhovy. "Concordia is receiving votes in the national poll, and we haven't beaten a team in the poll for a couple of years now. The guys have been working hard and had this game in their sights. This win shows the growth of our program."

The Sunbirds came out of the gate on a mission and scored on the opening possession of the game. Erik Schlick set the tone by winning the sprint, which was followed by Ian Roos at two-meters powering home a shot into the back of the net to give FPU a 1-0 lead. Seymour tallied his first goal of the night to move the score to 2-0 before Greg Bracamonte found the back of the cage with a back-handed shot. Seymour closed out the period with a goal to give the Sunbirds 4-2 advantage.

Concordia responded in the middle quarters to climb back into the game, however. The Eagles held a 9-6 advantage at the intermission before FPU knotted the game at 11 as the fourth quarter approached.

Maes opened the final period with two-straight goals to swing the momentum in the Sunbirds favor. After the Eagles responded to tie the game at 13, Seymour took over the final four minutes with three goals to ensure the victory for FPU. With the game tied 15-15 and an ejection was called on the Eagles, FPU set up the 6-on-5 offense that resulted in a Seymour goal after great ball movement with only 28 seconds remaining. The Sunbirds ran out the clock with solid defense to clinch the win.

"The guys came out fired up. The fact we came out and scored a couple of goals right off the bat proved the level of intensity we were coming into this game with," said Suhovy. "In the fourth quarter we stayed consistent. We kept with what was working, our patience, balanced attack and spacing helped us utilize the tools we have across the pool."

Seymour led the offense with seven goals for a career high, while Maes followed with six. Connor Cookingham, Bracramonte and Roos rounded out the scoring with a goal apiece.

"David and Daniel come into every game with this intensity," said Suhovy. "They are our outside arms, but tonight they had a fire in their belly. David really stepped up big, he wanted to keep us in the game at every moment. He was on fire tonight so we kept feeding him the ball. The same thing with Daniel, he's always looking for those shooting opportunities."

Kevin Richey played in goal for the Sunbirds and came up with several huge blocks in the final period. Steven Kaufmann, John Samson, Kyle Madel and Kyle Mauriello stepped up defensively in the win as well.

"From here on out every game is only going to get tougher and tougher. This was a big win mentally, but the guys know they have some hard work ahead of them," concluded Suhovy.

FPU continues WWPA play next Thursday, Oct. 23 against California Baptist at home at 7 p.m.