LOS ANGELES - The No. 14 Santa Clara men's
water polo team fell to No. 3 California, 15-8, this morning in the
Broncos' opening match of the 2010 SoCal Tournament, but recovered
from the morning's loss to upset No. 12 St. Francis, 14-11, later
in the day.
Santa Clara (8-7 overall) will now face WWPA rival No. 10 Loyola
Marymount tomorrow at noon at the Sunset Canyon Recreation Center
for the right to play for ninth place.
In the match against Cal, the Broncos kept pace with the
Golden Bears through the first quarter, ending the first eight
minutes knotted at three. In the second quarter, Cal took
control of the game with five unanswered goals. Santa Clara
was able to find the back of the cage five more times in the game,
but the Bears added another seven.
Junior Marcus
Akerland led the Broncos with two goals. Also scoring for
SCU was seniors
Mitch Klipa
and Nick
Poggetti, junior
James Case,
and freshmen Theo
Nasser, Tucker
Carlson, and David
Guibord.
Junior goalie Michael
Wishart blocked nine shots. Sophomore John Nash
took over in the cage with 3:12 left in the game and saved two
shots.
In the afternoon match against St. Francis, Santa Clara was
continuously a few goals ahead of the Terriers at the end of each
quarter. The Broncos strongest offensive efforts came in the
final half, as they scored five goals in the third quarter and four
in the fourth.
Poggetti and junior Brett
Zylstra each scored three goals. Case and senior Stephen
Hobbs scored twice. Junior Daley
Meistrell, senior Josh Luebke, Carlson, and Klipa all added one
goal. Wishart blocked nine shots.
Depending on the result of tomorrow's game against the Lions,
Santa Clara will play No. 9 Pepperdine or No. 13 UC San Diego.
