Box Score SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Regardless of outcome… the No. 18 Santa Clara University men's water polo team continued to prove its ascension Friday, even in only the third week of the fall.
The No. 18 Broncos hosted crosstown rival and No. 9-ranked San Jose State in both teams' West Coast Conference opener and pushed the Spartans to literally the final second of sudden victory overtime before SJSU finally got the game winner to survive a high-energy battle at Sullivan Aquatic Center, 11-10.
No. 18 Santa Clara (4-2, 0-1 WCC) created numerous opportunities of its own to win Friday's game, but the No. 9 San Jose State (4-0, 1-0 WCC) defense made an amazing effort to stifle the Broncos' attack. Santa Clara was held scoreless for seven minutes, 28 seconds, to end the game after scoring a go-ahead goal halfway through the first overtime period.
Santa Clara won the sprint to start the sudden victory period, giving it the first chance to win the game with a score. Santa Clara would miss three shot attempts on three different possessions in sudden victory overtime, including one with a man advantage after a drawn exclusion. The SCU defense kept getting the ball back to the Broncos, even stopping three consecutive shots from SJSU on one possession, but their last attempt with less than a minute to play in the period was stopped again by San Jose State, who's goalkeeper, Brendon Gyapjas, made 15 saves.
The Spartans had less than 30 seconds to go down the pool and score the game winner in sudden victory. They gained a huge advantage in the waning seconds when a Bronco defender was called for a foul and excluded, giving them a man advantage. Jamie Steingraf, who already had four goals in the game, took one final shot from the outside with only two seconds on the clock. His shot skipped across the top of the water and found the inside of the left post to clinch the game for SJSU as the buzzer sounded.
The Broncos would only score that one overtime goal over a stretch of 12 minutes, 44 seconds, after going ahead 9-7 in the fourth period – a span that amounted to more than a period-and-a-half's worth of regular game time. And that was after scoring eight goals in just over 20 minutes of regulation game time against the No. 9 team in the nation to take that 9-7 fourth-period lead.
Zach Fales and
Jack Fisher both scored two goals for Santa Clara.
Luke Baird,
Riccardo De Simon,
Henry Engs,
Reese Jenican,
Charlie Kosinski and
Ben Kyrillos all scored one goal each.
Harrison Labrosse made a career-high-tying 13 saves in goal for the Broncos.
Santa Clara trailed 4-1 after the first period, but scored three unanswered goals in the second to head into halftime tied, 4-4. The game was tied again at both 6-6 and 7-7 through the third frame. San Jose State trailed by two goals with 3:45 to play in regulation and finally got its offense back on track with a goal at the 2:20 mark of the fourth period. It'd score the equalizer 59 seconds later to make it 9-9. Both goals came from Steingraf. Steingraf also tied the game at 10-10 with 67 seconds left in the first overtime period after Fales had put Santa Clara ahead only 22 seconds earlier.
Santa Clara next hosts George Washington University in a non-conference matchup at noon Saturday. Fans can find purchase tickets and find all live coverage links on SantaClaraBroncos.com.
