LA VERNE, Calif. - A heroic effort in the final seconds of regulation netted the Fresno Pacific Sunbirds (1-5 overall) their first win of the season before they finished Sunday with a split of a pair of games against the La Verne Leopards and the Ottawa Arizona Spirit on the final day of the Inland Empire Tournament. 

The morning meeting with La Verne proved to be a back-and-forth battle until the very end. 

The match began with multiple miscues and missed shots by both teams. 

The first break came for the Sunbirds in the 4th minute when Eugenio Maldonado rockets a shot that finds the back of the net for the first point of the game. 

Less than 20 seconds later, Pietro Cattano added his name to the scorers sheet putting FPU up by two in the early going. 

The Leopards answered two minutes later to pull within one until the Sunbird's Forrest Gray's shot hit the back of the net to maintain the led. 

The 1st period ended with a series of turnovers by both teams until the Leopards broke through again to end the half back to close the lead back to one. 

La Verne opened the 2nd period by evening the score before William Green countered back with a goal of his own to regain the FPU lead. 

After a turnover and a missed shot by Sunbirds, the Leopards capitalized scoring back-back goals to take the lead. 

The remainder of the 2nd period was filled with more turnovers and missed shots by both teams until Cattano scored his second goal of the day with one second remaining. 

The Sunbirds opened up the 3rd period with a scoring frenzy scoring four straight goals from Gray, Maldonado, and Cattano to give FPU their largest lead of the game. 

Back-to-back turnovers by FPU led to two straight goals from La Verne to bring the Leopards within 3. 

The 'Birds answered back quickly as Blake Johnson scores on a power play. 

FPU struggled defensively for the remainder of the 3rd period and the beginning of the 4th allowing the Leopards to go on a run of five straight goals to take the lead 12-10. 

The frenzy of scoring came to a halt as both teams struggled to convert with both goalies making multiple saves. 

Scott Tashima broke through the defense and was able to score in the 2nd minute to bring the Sunbirds back within one. 

The Leopards countered back quickly leaving the Sunbirds down 2 with less than one minute to go. 
  
With forty seconds remaining, Maldonado struck off the power play for his fourth goal of the day. 

As the clock and the shot clock continued to click down , La Verne was forced to attempt a shot but it was saved by Ethan McLaughlin who quickly called the timeout to set the Sunbirds up for one final play. 

Gray capitalized, putting the tying score in the back of the cage with one second remaining to send the game into overtime. 

After winning the spring and drawing the exclusion, the Leopards scored on their first possession of overtime putting them back on top. 

A pair of turnovers and block shot mark the Sunbirds next three possession, until the last thirty seconds as Cattano netted his fourth goal of the day.

The first overtime came to a close locked in a tie sending the game into the second where both teams exchanged goals to force sudden death.

For the first time in the match, Gray was able to secure the sprint and the possession for the Sunbirds. As the shot clock clicked down, the Leopards were whistled for an exclusion. Off the exclusion, FPU worked the ball around until finally Maldando fired the shot to win the game. 

The Sunbirds finished the game with 39 shots, with 6 different players scoring one or more goals. Maldando ended the game as the highest scorer for the Birds with a season high of five goals. 

Defensively, McLaughlin shined as he recorded 10 saves. 

In the second game, the Sunbirds continued their scoring streak with Tashima capitalizing early after Gray won the sprint. 

The Spirit countered back with a goal of their own  after a turnover and an exclusion called on the 'Birds. 

In the fourth minute, the Spirit were called for the penalty giving William Green the five-meter-attempt which he sends into the back of the net. 

The teams continued to trade goals as Gray and Christian Clark added their names to the score sheet.

The score was tied 4-4 heading into the second half as both teams traded two goal runs. 

At the end of the 2nd, Cattano continued his stellar day by netting another sending the 'Birds into halftime up by one. 

Coming out of halftime the Spirit scored early to even the game. 

The rest of the 3rd developed in to  a defensive battle with both teams trading turnovers and making saves. The scoring drought was finally broken by Maldonado who evens the score heading into the fourth. 

The Sunbirds struggled to score in the fourth with four turnovers and seven missed shots. 

Ottawa Arizona went on a run to end the game scoring three unanswered sealing their victory 11 to 8. 

 Despite losing the game, the Sunbirds shared the ball well having over seven players with more than one goal. 

Fresno Pacific's will head home for some much needed rest before their next game at Sunnyside Aquatic Center on September 23 at 10:00am against the UC Merced Bobcats. 



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