FRESNO, Calif. – Daniel Seymour's breakaway goal with under a minute to play propelled Fresno Pacific to an upset victory over Loyola Marymount, 12-11, Saturday in Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) action.

The Sunbirds improve to 2-3 overall and 1-1 in WWPA play with the win. LMU, who is currently receiving votes in the national poll, fall to 3-6 overall and 0-1 in league action.

"This is a big win against LMU, who is a powerhouse in the WWPA," said head coach Bryan Suhovy. "The guys really wanted to come out and make a statement today. It was an all-around team effort and I am very proud of our guys."

FPU used a strong defensive effort in the first half to take control of the game early. The Sunbirds held the Lions to a single goal in the second period to take a 7-3 advantage into halftime. FPU used a 3-0 run to open the quarter to earn the lead, which included a pair of goals from senior Zlatko Vlasic.

LMU answered in the third period, however, with a 4-0 run three minutes into the quarter to knot the game at 7-7. Each team found the back of the cage twice before the quarter ended to make the score 9-9.

The Sunbirds opened the final period with goals from Seymour and Vlasic to lead 11-9. After the Lions fought back with two consecutive goals to knot the game at 11-11, Seymour delivered his heroics after stealing an outlet pass from the goalkeeper and used his speed to breakaway and fire a shot past the keeper for the game-winning goal. FPU held the Lions scoreless for the final :48 seconds to earn the 12-11 win.

Dillon Robinson delivered 15 saves and five steals for the Sunbirds defensively. David Maes added a pair of steals.

"Defense has been a big focus for us all season," noted Suhovy. "We've been a little scattered to start the year, but as we've tightened it up, the guys are able to make the correct reads a lot faster. Our defenders really stepped up today and played great center defense, which allowed us to press a little more. That feed our counter attacks and got us going offensively."

The offense was led by Seymour's four goals and six assists, while Vlasic found the back of the cage four times. Maes added a hat-trick with three goals and Kyle Madel rounded out the scoring with a goal. The Sunbirds capitalized on 5-of-7 man-up advantages in the win.

The win marked FPU's first win over Loyola Marymount in five all-time meetings.

FPU is back in action tomorrow against #19 San Jose State (2:20 p.m.) and #4 Cal (5:20 p.m.) at the UC Davis Aggie Roundup in non-conference action.