BERKELEY, Calif. – Santa Clara men's water polo earned a split on the second day of the Mountain Pacific Invitational.
On Saturday morning, the Broncos lost to No. 11 UC Davis, 20-8, before downing Whittier, 19-13, in the evening session at the three-day, 16-team tournament, which is being held in Berkeley, California.
Graham McClone scored four goals and Demarco Orella and Will Grant added three apiece to lead Santa Clara (5-6), which scored eight with the man advantage, past Whittier (6-5) at Northgate High School.
After the 19th-ranked Broncos led by as many as four in the first half, the Poets rallied in the third quarter.
Whittier's Massimiliano Mirarchi, who scored a game-high six goals, knotted the score at 12-all with 4:53 left in the third quarter, but the Broncos scored the next six. Mac Carey snapped the tie with 1:25 left in the period and McClone's exclusion tally with 7:24 left in the game increased the lead to 15-12.
Goals by Reilley May and Shane Hughes, less than a minute apart midway through the fourth, pushed the lead to 18-12.
UC Davis (9-3), which had six players tally at least two goals, broke open a close contest in the second quarter.
Will Grant's exclusion goal with 4:40 left in the second period cut the Santa Clara deficit to 5-4, but the Aggies, who were 7-for-8 with the man advantage, scored the next seven goals in a game also played at Northgate.
The Broncos close out play in the tournament at 11:30 a.m. Sunday when they face No. 8 UC Irvine.
