WHITTIER, Calif. – Fresno Pacific played a pair of tightly contested games to the open the 2015 season Saturday, but the Sunbirds weren't able to jump into the win column at the Whittier Mini Tournament. FPU mounted a comeback in the opener before falling to Chapman, 10-9, and dropped the nightcap to Whittier, 13-11.

"We finished the day a little differently then we visualized, but it showed us what we needed to see and where to improve," said head coach Bryan Suhovy. "We were slow out of the gates this morning, but the guys played well against Whittier in the afternoon. The first weekend has always been a slow start for us historically, but we always build well from here. We have some work ahead of us and the guys are up for the challenge."

Daniel Seymour paced the offense in the opener with his first hat-trick of the season and added a pair of assists for the Sunbirds.

FPU tallied three goals in the opening period but was held scoreless in the second to trail 6-3 at the intermission. The Sunbirds crawled back into the game with six second-half scores, but weren't able to find the equalizer as the Panthers escaped with a 10-9 win.

David Maes and Zlatko Vlasic added a pair of goals for FPU, while Jamison Shapland and freshman Kyle Eoff rounded out the scoring with a goal apiece. Maes totaled two assists and Steven Kaufmann, Erik Brown and Kyle Madel also added a helper.

Kevin Richey started the opener and recorded nine blocks and two steals for the Sunbirds in the cage. Seymour and Maes contributed three steals apiece defensively.

The Sunbirds found the back of the cage on four of 12 man-up advantages in the loss.

In the nightcap, Vlasic's four goals weren't enough as the Sunbirds fell to host Whittier 10-9. The Poets opened the game with three consecutive scores and took a 7-5 lead into halftime. FPU came within a score at 9-8 in the third period, but Whittier answered with a 2-0 run to put the game just out of reach.

Maes added a pair of goals for the Sunbirds, while Connor Cookingham, Seymour, Kaufmann, Brown and Madel found the back of the cage once. Vlasic led FPU with three assists.

Dillon Robinson was a wall in goal with 15 saves for FPU.

The Sunbirds outplayed the Poets on man-up advantages with three goals to Whittier's one on six attempts.

FPU is back in action on Thursday, September 17 at home against Western Water Polo Association foe UC San Diego. The game at Sunnyside Aquatics Center is slated for a 7 p.m. start.