FRESNO, Calif. – Fresno Pacific settled for a day split at the FPU Mini Tourney Saturday against Concordia and #1 Stanford.  The Sunbirds used a six-goal first half to down the Eagles 8-6 in the morning session before the top-ranked Cardinal impressed with a 20-1 win at Sunnyside Aquatics Center.
 
The Sunbirds move to 2-8 overall following the day split.
 
"We achieved the goals we set out for ourselves today," said head coach Bryan Suhovy. "The team continues to develop and grow. We came out to play against Concordia and earned the win we wanted in the opener."
 
In the opener, the Sunbirds jumped out to a quick 3-1 lead behind goals from Julia Ponce, Emily Knowles and Kaeli Hanson. After Concordia climbed back to tie the game at four apiece, the Sunbirds closed the second quarter with goals from Ponce and Hanson to lead 6-4 at halftime.
 
The Sunbirds would hold the advantage the rest of the way and tallied a score in each period to secure the win.  Alyssa Stevens delivered a dagger with 1:36 remaining to seal the victory for FPU.
 
Hanson finished with three goals to lead the Sunbirds, while Courtney Hall recorded 15 saves in the cage. Kaitlin Fletcher dished out two assists.
 
In the nightcap, Stanford proved too much to handle. The Cardinal scored the final 17 goals of the game to earn the win.
 
Stevens scored the lone goal for the Sunbirds in the opening period, which cut the then-Stanford lead to 3-1.
 
Kelsie Harvey recorded seven saves in the cage in two quarters of action.
 
"Against Stanford, we embraced the opportunity to play them and gained important experience," said Suhovy. "It's a great opportunity to compete against Olympic level players. It was a great day of polo here in Fresno and we were glad to bring that level of polo to the Central Valley."
 
Stanford received three scores from Maggie Steffens in the win. Steffens was named MVP at the 2012 Olympics and the 2012 FINA Women's Water Polo Athlete of the Year, which included a Gold Medal at the Olympic Games in London.
 
The Mini Tourney also featured #12 San Diego State and #17 UC Santa Barbara.
 
The Sunbirds are back in action on Feb. 27 at the Posada Royale Tournament in Thousand Oaks.