SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Zlatko Vlasic provided five goals on the day for Fresno Pacific, but the Sunbirds finished play at the Rodeo Tournament on Sunday with two losses against ranked opponents. FPU fell to #11 Brown, 10-7, and #14 Bucknell, 20-11, to fall to 9-13 overall on the year.

In the opener against Brown, the Sunbirds rallied in the second-half but couldn't overcome a slow start. FPU trailed 9-2 at the half and stormed back with a strong defensive half with only one goal allowed. The Sunbirds scored three times in the final period but ran out of time to complete the comeback to fall 10-7.

Vlasic led the Sunbirds offensively with a hat trick. Kyle Madel, Connor Cookingham, David Maes and Erik Brown each scored a goal for the Sunbirds. Brown added two assists to his line.

Kevin Richey added nine saves in the cage for FPU.

The Sunbirds then faced a tough Bucknell team in the nightcap in their fourth game of the tournament, all of which came against nationally-ranked opponents. FPU trailed 13-6 at the intermission, but wouldn't come any closer as the Bison ran off seven goals to the Sunbirds' five in the second half to earn the win.

Daniel Seymour, Maes, Vlasic and Madel the offense with two goals apiece. The rest of the scoring was provided by Cookingham, Greg Bracamonte and Georgios Dimitrilous with a goal each. Seymour added three assists, while Brown dished out two helpers.

Richey played all four periods in goal and blocked eight shots for the Sunbirds.

The Sunbirds move their attention back to Western Water Polo Association play in their final stretch of the regular season. FPU faces preseason favorite UC Davis on the road on Friday, Oct. 30 at 7 p.m.