SANTA CLARA, Calif. - No. 17 Santa Clara men's water polo erased a six-goal deficit and nearly pulled off the upset against No. 14 Cal Baptist in a thrilling WCC showdown on Thursday afternoon at the Sullivan Aquatic Center. Unfortunately the comeback bid came up just short in the end as the Lancers scored the go-ahead goal with just over two minutes to play and held off one final Bronco attack in the waning moments. 

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Cal Baptist (16-8, 2-0) jumped out to a big lead early on, leading 7-2 after the first period and extending the lead to 10-4 in the second before Grant Roesch and Reese Jenican each found the back of the net in the final 1:18 of the period to make it a 10-6 affair at halftime. 
• The Bronco freshman duo of Luke Baird and Henry Engs flipped the script in the third period with each scoring twice to knot the game at 10-10. 
• The Lancers scored twice out of the gate to open up the fourth period to make it 12-10, but Jenican scored his second goal of the game to make it one-possession affair once again. Less than a minute later, Harrison Labrosse came up huge with a big save against a powerplay on the opposite end, which immediately led to find Roesch streaking alone down the middle of the pool. Roesch received the lob and deposited the game-tying score to knot things up once again at 12-all. 
• The tie did not last long, however, as Bodhi Bowden scored what would be his fourth goal of the game on the ensuing possession for the Lancers for the 13-12 advantage with 2:14 remaining. The Broncos made a couple of stops in the final two minutes and had one last crack at tying the game after gaining possession with six seconds to play, but the shot off the hand of Zack Fales missed its mark. 
• Cal Baptist extended their winning streak to eight-straight games while Santa Clara (9-6, 0-2) suffered their second-consecutive loss after winning three-straight prior.

NOTABLE NUMBERS:

• Baird led all Bronco scorers with three goals while Fales, Jenican, Roesch and Engs each finished with two goals apiece. Fales added a trio of assists for a team-best five points on the day. 
• Labrosse finished with nine saves and bounced back from a rough opening half by allowing just three goals in the final 16 minutes. 
• Bowden and Toring Stanley led the Lancers with four goals each. 

UP NEXT:
The Broncos will co-host the annual Julian Fraser Memorial Tournament Friday through Sunday. The majority of the games will be played at the Sullivan Aquatic Center while others will be played on San Jose State's campus. For more information, check out the tournament central.