FRESNO, Calif. – Fresno Pacific held its Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) and home opener on Thursday night as #10 UC San Diego played spoiler to down the Sunbirds, 17-5, at Sunnyside Aquatics Center.
 
FPU falls to 0-3 overall and 0-1 in WWPA play with the loss, while UCSD improves to 4-3 overall and 1-0 in league action.
 
"Out of the gates, with it being our first conference and home game, we were a little shaky and made a few mistakes that UC San Diego capitalized on," said head coach Bryan Suhovy. "Overall, I thought we did some good things throughout the night against a very good team in UCSD. Our 6-on-5 execution was solid and we found the cage a few times, but as the game wore on we got a little stagnant offensively. This was a really good test and learning experience for us as we continue our conference schedule."
 
The Sunbirds came out firing offensively and opened the game with the first goal, as Kyle Madel fired a shot into the cage in the second minute of action. The Tritons responded with a 3-0 run, however, and never relinquished the lead. FPU received a goal from Zlatko Vlasic to cut the Tritons' advantage to 3-2 in the period, but wouldn't come any closer the rest of the night.
 
UCSD led 9-3 at the half and held the Sunbirds scoreless in the final quarter to make the final 15-5.
 
Madel the charge offensively for FPU with a pair of goals, while Vlasic, Steven Kaufmann and Connor Cookingham rounded out the scoring with a goal apiece.  Daniel Seymour chipped in with two assists. The Sunbirds finished the night 2-for-3 on man-up advantages.
 
Dillon Robinson led the defense with 13 saves and one steal in the match for FPU.
 
UCSD received four goals from Chase Cockerill in the win.
 
The Sunbirds are back in action on Wednesday, Sept. 23 at home against Merced College. The game is slated to begin at 7 p.m.