Oct. 6, 2007
Claremont, Calif - The Santa Clara men's water polo team (13-8) defeated No. 20 Brown 8-7 and conference opponent Cal Lutheran 9-7 Saturday to finish the Convergence Classic undefeated. The Broncos have now won five straight games, their second longest streak of the season. The two games today were the closest wins the team has had all year.
In the morning game with Brown, it was back and forth all game long. The Broncos took a quick 2-0 lead and from that point on either held the lead or were tied. The score was 8-5 going into the fourth quarter and Santa Clara limited Brown to just two goals to hold on for the win.
Robert Callahan played the entire game in the cage, recording 13 blocks in a game where defense was critical.
Josh Early tied his best offensive output of the season, scoring four goals to go with an assist. Tommy Hendrickson notched three goals with a kickout drawn and Tommy Kelly scored once with an assist and a kickout drawn. Mike Sorgenfrei contributed two assists and two steals as well.
"Our defense played great that game," said head coach Keith Wilbur. "Tommy, Andrew, and Mitch all did a great job containing their very good two meter players. We also played excellent 5 on 6 defense. Brown drew 13 kickouts and our guys really clamped down on those."
In the afternoon game against Cal Lutheran, the team played hard through some fatigue. "That game was tough; it was a grind," said Wilbur. "That was the fourth game we played in a little over 24 hours. Our offense wasn't great, but we played good enough defense to come away with the win."
Early continued his great play in the tournament, scoring three more goals to take his total to 12 for the weekend. Liam Farrell notched a hat trick as well with an assist, a steal, and a kickout drawn. Nick Poggetti and Kelly both scored a goal with a kickout drawn and Hendrickson added three assists to his score. Luke Oda brought an assist, two steals, and a kickout drawn to the table as well.
Callahan was once again solid in goal, blocking 13 more shots with two steals. In 3.5 games this weekend he blocked 47 shots with seven steals.
After the Convergence Classic begins the slower part of the team's schedule. The Broncos only game next week is their second home game of the season against UC Santa Cruz at noon.
