Sept. 27, 2008

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. - The No. 13 Santa Clara men's water polo team defeated both of their opponents in day one at the Slugfest Tournament hosted at UC Santa Cruz by margins of six points or more. In the morning, they took on California Lutheran. Nine Broncos scored in the 13-7 defeat, including goal leader Liam Farrell, who scored three. In the afternoon, Santa Clara jumped back into the pool for their second game against Occidental. Josh Early, Mike Sorgenfrei and Jack Wall each scored three goals apiece, in the 20-11 routing of the Tigers.

Today's games began conference play for the now, 7-4, Broncos. Both unranked opponents were no match for the strong performances of the entire Santa Clara team.

"A lot of players were able to contribute in the day's wins," head coach Keith Wilbur said. "It was good to have a lot of guys able to get in on the action and get on the board."

The first game of the day versus Cal Lutheran, Mitchell Klipa had a season high four steals and drew a kick out. Freshman goalie Michael Wishart posted eight blocks, and a pair of steals and assists. Posting three assists each were Andrew Fitch and Nicholas Poggetti, and Stephen Hobbs had a goal, a steal and a kick out drawn.

SCU came into the game ready to play. They were strong on the attack and worked well responding to the Kingsmen's attacks.

Versus Occidental, the Broncos came out firing to a 20-11 defeat, where 10 players got the ball into the back of the net. Fitch scored twice, had two assists and a game-high five steals. Klipa had another strong performance posting three assists and two steals, and Farrell notched two goals and had one kick out drawn.

After four quarters of play, Santa Clara easily breezed past the Tigers. Wishart had another strong game in the cage with six blocks and tallied three assists. Joshua Luebke also contributed with two scores and a steal.

Freshman Daley Meistrell had a strong first day of competition scoring a goal and posting a steal on the day's play. All-in-all the Broncos had a strong day in the pool and were able to keep ahead of their opponents.

"Both games the guys came out strong," said Wilbur. "I was especially happy on how we responded to attacks and our counter attack. Tomorrow's opponents are both ranked and should be very good competition."

In day two of play, Santa Clara they will take on No. 16 University of Redlands at 9:20 a.m. and close out the weekend at 4:20 p.m. when they will face No. 15 UC Davis.

Game One
Santa Clara 13, Cal Lutheran 7

Goals
Farrell - 3, Meistrell - 1, Fitch - 1, Poggetti - 1, Case - 2, Wall - 2, Adler -1, Hobbs - 1, Luebke - 1

Assists
Early - 1, Sorgenfrie - 1, Parolin - 1, Poggetti - 1, Wall - 3, Adler - 1, Wishart - 2

Steals
Farrell - 1, Klipa - 4, Sorgenfrie - 1, Parolin - 2, Fitch - 3, Poggetti - 3, Case - 1, Zylstra - 1, Hobbs - 1, Wishart - 2

Kick Outs Drawn
Farrell - 1, Klipa - 1, Parolin - 1, Hobbs - 1

Blocks
Wishart - 8, Favero - 2

Game Two
Santa Clara 20, Occidental 11

Goals Farrell - 2, Early - 3, Lubke - 2, Klipa - 1, Sorgenfrei - 3, Parolin - 1, Fitch - 2, Case - 1, Wall - 3, Hobbs - 2

Assists
Early - 1, Klipa - 3, Parolin - 1, Detoy - 1, Fitch - 2, Wall - 3, Zylstra - 1, Wishart - 3

Steals
Meistrell- 1, Luebke - 1, Klipa - 2, Fitch - 5, Deserio - 1, Zylstra - 1

Kick Outs Drawn
Farrell - 1, Detoy - 1, Diserio - 1, Case - 1

Blocks
Wishart - 6