Nov. 3, 2007
The Santa Clara men's water polo team had enough fire power, but also a defensive surprise in their 11-4 victory over UC Santa Cruz Saturday. Liam Farrell broke out with four goals and Josh Early contributed a hat trick to lead the offensive attack.
While the game was never really in question, with the Broncos leading 8-4 halfway through the fourth quarter, goalie Robert Callahan was hit hard in the mouth by an opposing player and had to be removed from the game. With backup goalie Chris Jones out of town and the remainder of the squad's goalkeepers redshirting, head coach Keith Wilbur called on Anderson Clendeninn to take over in the cage.
"We had actually talked about this scenario earlier, just in case" said Wilbur, "It was fun to see Anderson as a senior field player to come in and play goal like that." Clendeninn recorded three blocks and no goals-against in the four and a half minutes of playing time. Meanwhile, the team made sure the game stayed out of reach by scoring three more goals to finish the game 11-4.
Farrell had a monster game according to Wilbur. Along with his four goals, matching his season high, Farrell also chipped in an assist, a steal, and three kickouts drawn. Nicholas Poggetti scored twice, contributing an assist and a kickout drawn as well. Stephen Hobbs scored once, as did Luke Oda who had an assist and two kickouts drawn as well. Charlie Moore and Tommy Hendrickson did not get on the board, but instead spent the game feeding their teammates for scores. Moore had four assists to go along with two steals and Hendrickson notched three assists.
Before having to leave the game, Callahan recorded nine blocks, a steal, and an assist, giving him another solid effort in what has become expected of him.
The team will finish off their weekend against UC Davis in the final home game of the season. In the two prior games against Davis, the Broncos have lost by a total of two goals, including their last meeting when Davis engineered a furious fourth quarter comeback to spoil a Santa Clara upset. The game will be Sunday at 12:00 p.m. at Malley Pool.
