LOS ANGELES  – No. 19 Santa Clara men's water polo gave No. 8 UC Davis all they could ask for, but ultimately fell just short on Friday evening in the opening round of the Overnght/MPSF Invitational on the campus of the USC Trojans. The Broncos held a one-goal lead entering the final period, but was unable to hold off the Aggies' potent offensive attack down the stretch and fell by a final of 11-10. 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:

• It was a back-and-forth affair from start to finish with the scored tied at 5-5 at the halftime intermission. Santa Clara (4-4) grabbed a slim advantage at the end of the third period as Zach Fales beat the clock for the go-ahead score on a powerplay to make it 8-7. 
• UC Davis (7-3) tied things right back up just 1:30 into the start of the fourth period and took the lead outright with just over four minutes remaining. The Aggies then tacked on two more goals for a three-goal advantage at 11-8. 
• The Broncos didn't go down without a fight with a pair of goals inside the final minute to make things interesting. Reese Jenican scored with 44 seconds remaining and Gojko Kapovich tacked on another inside the final 10 seconds. Time then expired before Santa Clara had an opportunity to score an equalizer. 
• Fales and Kapovich combined for six of the Broncos' 10 goals, finishing with a hat trick each. Kapovich also finished with four assists to lead all players. Jenican, Cody Ferguson, Harrison Villella and Bennett Stafford each scored a goal of their own. 
• Freshman Harrison Labrosse got the starting nod at goalie and played all 32 minutes. He finished with nine saves.  

NEXT UP:

• Santa Clara is matched up against Pomona-Pitzer for their second game of the Overnght/MPSF Invitational. The game is slated for an 11 a.m. start tomorrow at UCLA. All games at the tournament are being streamed live on overnght.com.