PALO ALTO, Calif. - On the final day of NorCals, No. 14 Santa Clara men's water polo split two games with Pomona-Pitzer and No. 16 Air Force. The Broncos took down Pomona-Pitzer 10-8 in the morning and fell to Air Force 9-7 in the afternoon. Santa Clara finished 14th in the tournament. Santa Clara's record now sits at 4-4 with a 4-2 mark in WWPA play.
Jimmy Moore and C.J. D'Arienzo each scored four goals on the day while Theo Nasser found the back of the net three times. In goal, John Nash collected 13 saves and Matt Pritchett added eight.
The Broncos return to the pool next weekend at the Davis Shootout on Sat., Sept. 22 and Sun., Sept. 23.
In the first game of the day for Santa Clara vs. Pomona-Pitzer, the Broncos trailed 5-3 at the half but tied the score through three quarters. With the score 7-7, Santa Clara outscored Pomona-Pitzer 3-1 in the final quarter to seal the win. Moore continued his impressive weekend by adding four goals. Nasser scored three goals of his own and Stephen Bilz, Kyle Nadel and James Rude each scored once. Nash had seven saves in goal and Pritchett had three. Nasser added five earned ejections while Nadel had three steals and two earned ejections. Moore had two assists and Rude had two earned ejections.
"We got off to a slow start in the first game and trailed 5-1 halfway through the second quarter," said Santa Clara head coach Keith Wilbur. "I thought the guys played well in the second half and we did a good job finishing out quarters. This was an important win for us but we have to start games stronger or we'll put ourselves in a dangerous situation like today."
Against WWPA opponent Air Force, Santa Clara was able to jump out to a 3-1 lead after one quarter but Air Force came back with a 4-0 second quarter to take a lead into halftime that it wouldn't surrender. D'Arienzo scored four times for the Broncos while Tucker Carlson had two goals of his own and Davis scored once. In goal, Nash collected six saves and Pritchett had five. Nadel added four steals while Casidhe McClone had three of his own. Moore added two more assists.
"I thought we started off the game vs. Air Force well," said Wilbur. "Air Force played the game with more in the tank and it showed throughout. It's tough to play the fourth game of the weekend with high energy but we have to find a way to step it up to win those games."
PP 2 3 2 1 8
SCU 1 2 4 3 10
Goals: Moore 4, Nasser 3, Bilz, Nadel, Rude
Blocks: Nash 7, Pritchett 3
AF 1 4 3 1 9
SCU 3 0 2 2 7
Goals: D'Arienzo 4, Carlson 2, Davis
Blocks: Nash 6, Pritchett 5
