Oct. 3, 2008

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The No. 12 Santa Clara men's water polo team concluded day one at the Covergence Tournament, going 2-0, with wins over conference rivals Whittier, 9-1, and Claremont, 12-10. The Broncos improve their overall record to 10-5 on the season.

In the first game of the day, Santa Clara's freshman goalie Michael Wishart had another standout game. Coming off his WWPA Top Performer honors this past week, he had 11 blocks and kept the Whittier shutout for the three-and-a-half quarters he was in the game. Scoring two goals in the game was sophomore Stephen Hobbs, who posted a steal and a had a kick out drawn. Junior Liam Farrell, who leads the team offensively this season, scored two goals as well, and notched an assist and a steal. Santa Clara came out strong versus Whittier and dominated the game throughout its entirety.

Later in the day, the Broncos edged hosts Claremont 12-10, in a late fourth quarter run to get the win. Mike Detoy scored back-to-back goals with less than three minutes to play to give the Broncos the two point advantage and get the win. Jack Wall worked in the first three-fourths of the game to keep Santa Clara in the game with four goals and a steal.

Mike Sorgenfrei also had big game for SCU, scoring a goal, notching an assist, posting two steals and drawing three kick outs. Rookie goalie Wishart, topped off his stellar performance in the morning with seven blocks and a steal.

"Today was pretty tough for us," head coach Keith Wilbur said. "In the Claremont game, the ref's called the game differently than we were used to, which caused us to adjust our style of play. The guys battled hard and stayed focused and we were able to earns both wins in today's games."

The Broncos conclude the Convergence Tournament at Pomona's Haldeman Aquatics Center. At 9 a.m. they will face another conference competitor, Chapman, and close out the weekend's play versus Concordia College (Calif.) at 2 p.m.

Game One

Santa Clara 9, Whittier 1

Goals
Farrell - 2, Early - 1, Akerland - 1, Klipa - 1, Parolin - 1, Zylstra - 1, Hobbs - 2

Assists
Farrell - 1, Akerland - 1, Sorgenfrei -1, Parolin 1, Case - 1, Wall - 2, Zylstra - 1

Steals
Farrell - 1, Early - 2, Akerland - 1, Luebke - 1, Klipa - 2, Sorgenfrei - 2, Parolin - 1, Poggetti - 2, Diserio - 1, Case - 1, Wall - 2, Zylstra - 1, Hobbs - 1

Kick Outs Drawn
Sorgenfrei - 4, Wall - 1, Hobbs - 1

Blocks
Wishart - 11, Meistrell - 2

Game Two

Santa Clara 12, Claremont 10

Goals
Early - 1, Sorgenfrei - 1, Parolin - 1, Detoy - 2, Fitch - 1, Case - 1, Wall - 4, Adler - 1

Assists
Farrell - 2, Sorgenfrei - 1, Parolin - 1, Case - 1, Wall - 1, Adler - 1

Steals
Sorgenfrei - 2, Fitch - 2, Wall - 1, Hobbs - 1, Wishart - 1

Kick Outs Drawn
Farrell - 2, Sorgenfrei - 3, Parolin - 1, Detoy - 2, Adler - 1, Hobbs - 1

Blocks
Wishart - 7