COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Fresno Pacific saw its season conclude on Saturday, as the Sunbirds fell to #17 Santa Clara, 11-10, at the Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) Championships. Seniors
Daniel Seymour and
Zlatko Vlasic paced the offense in the setback with six combined goals in in their final action as Sunbirds.
FPU wraps up the 2015-16 campaign at 10-17 overall, while SCU moves to 12-20 overall. The Broncos move into the fifth-place game against Loyola Marymount on Sunday.
The Sunbirds used a 2-0 run to start the fourth period to lead 9-8 with 4:26 remaining. The Broncos responded, however, with a 3-0 run to put FPU on the ropes. The Sunbirds received a goal from Vlasic with 22 seconds remaining, but it wasn't enough as SCU ran out the clock to earn the win. The two teams played a tightly contested first half and entered the intermission tied 4-4.
Vlasic led FPU with four goals on the evening, while Seymour added two. Vlasic ends the season with 73 goals, which sets a new program record for a single season.
David Maes,
Erik Brown,
Greg Bracamonte, and
Kyle Eoff rounded out the scoring with a goal apiece.
Dillon Robinson made 15 stops in the cage.
"Although we had two heartbreaking losses, I am proud of these guys," said head coach
Bryan Suhovy. "They gave it everything in both games. It has been a great season for us, a lot of broken records. This was the program's first experience ever having a championship opportunity. We learned a lot of lessons, and will continue to build and grow to make a run for 2016. We are truly going to miss the seniors, but I am excited for the future."
The Sunbirds graduate four seniors -
Kevin Richey, Bracamonte, Vlasic and Seymour - and return a solid core in 2016. FPU made program history this season by defeating a pair of Division I teams in conference play (LMU, AFA) and receiving votes in the national poll for the first time ever.
Seymour, a two-time All-American, graduates second in career goals and first in career assists, while Vlasic graduates third in career goals and fourth in career assists in program history.
