RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Fresno Pacific (4-7) traveled to Riverside to take on some tough competition, and despite some good play, could not manage a victory at the Lancer Invitational. The Sunbirds went 0-4 for the Friday/Saturday tournament, losing to Chapman 8-11, Concordia 8-14, Orange Coast 4-9 and Riverside Community 6-10.
Caleb Goings had the majority of time in the goalie cage, playing both games on Friday and both first halves on Saturday, and led the Sunbirds with 30 saves for tournament. Riley Warner closed out both games on Saturday, taking the cage for both second halves, and stopped 13 of his own.
Friday’s games were both “hard fought” games, according to assistant coach Michael Urrutia. The Sunbirds managed to keep the Chapman game tied through three quarters, and Goings had a weekend high 11 saves. The second game against Concordia had scoring from all around the Sunbird roster, six different Sunbirds scored: Gabe Calderon 2, Kriztian Kovacs 2, Milorad Pavlovic, Ray Eggert, Luke MacApline and Tim Kahn each with one apiece.
Goings also added 6 steals to his 5 saves to finish off Friday.
Saturday opened with Orange Coast College where the Sunbirds trailed the entire game, but coach Urrutia noted, “[the Sunbirds] created a lot of offensive opportunity, and played great defense,” holding Orange Coast to only 9 goals.
The Sunbirds finished with one of the best clubs in Southern California, Riverside Community College. The Sunbirds came out sluggish in the first, getting outscored 5-0, but came alive in the second and third, outscoring Riverside 6-4; Fresno Pacific even got within 2 goals at one point. However, Riverside managed to hold on in the end.
Head coach Brian Suhovy and coach Urrutia both agreed that the team played well against some very tough teams. Urrutia concluded, “The fatigue became a factor against bigger teams with more subs, especially towards the end.”
MacAlpine and Pavlovic ended the weekend with 5 goals apiece, a team high, where Pavlovic also managed to score in all four of Fresno Pacific’s games, the only Sunbird to do so.
The tournaments keep coming for the men’s water polo team as they head to Pomona next weekend for the Claremont Convergence. The Sunbirds opponents have not yet been determined, but they hit the water on Friday, October 3, and again on Saturday, October 4.