RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Fresno Pacific opened play at the Lancer Invitational Friday with a split at Lancer Aquatics Center. The Sunbirds played well in the opener before falling to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 15-11 before a strong second half propelled FPU to a win over Cal Lutheran in the nightcap, 15-9.
The Sunbirds (3-2) were led by
Daniel Seymour on the day, who totaled seven goals in the two games.
In the opener against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, FPU began the game on a 5-1 run to take control early.
Ian Roos tallied the first goal of the match before Seymour found the back of the cage on back-to-back shots to make the score 4-1.
Greg Bracamonte scored the final Sunbird goal of the quarter to give FPU a 6-4 advantage.
The Sunbirds managed two goals in the second period, one each from Roos and Maes, but allowed five CMS scores to surrender the lead 9-8 at the intermission.
After each squad found the back of the cage twice in the third quarter, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps took control of the game in the final period with four goals. The Sunbirds fell behind 13-10 and cut the deficit to a pair with a goal from Maes, but FPU was held scoreless the final 3:30 to lose 15-11.
"We came out aggressive, but lost momentum in the second half," said head coach
Bryan Suhovy. "We had to play catch up the rest of the game and just fell short."
Dillion Robinson made 10 stops in the cage for FPU. Maes led the charge offensively with three goals, while Roos and Seymour each tallied a pair.
Steven Kaufmann, Bracamonte,
John Samson and
Kyle Madel rounded out the scoring with a goal each.
CMS was led by eight scores from Tanner Cullen.
In the afternoon, Seymour's four second-half goals powered the Sunbirds to the 15-9 win over Cal Lutheran.
FPU opened the game with two straight scores from Maes and Seymour, but found itself knotted at three after the first period. Madel gave the Sunbirds the lead to start the second before CLU answered with two goals to lead 5-4 at halftime.
The difference in the game came in the second half with the game tied 6-6. FPU ran off four unanswered goals from Samson,
Connor Cookingham, Seymour and Madel before the third quarter ended to lead 10-6.
The Sunbirds closed out the win with a five-goal outburst in the final period to secure the 15-9 win.
"Compared to our opening game, our second match was a different story," said Suhovy. "We came out firing with our six-goal run in the third and never looked back. Kevin made some big blocks and played a great game. I'm really happy with how our guys played."
Richey played well in the cage and totaled 10saves in the win. Seymour powered the Sunbirds offensively with five goals, while Samson finished with four scores. Madel amassed a pair of goals and Cookingham, Maes, Bracamonte and
Kyle Mauriello each found the back of the cage to round out the scoring.
FPU concludes play at the Lancer Invitational tomorrow against Concordia (10:30 am) and Chapman (3 p.m.).
