SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The No. 18 Santa Clara men's water polo team posted a balanced offensive effort Wednesday featuring a hat trick from Henry Engs and two other multi-goal outings, but No. 3 Stanford came away with a 17–9 non-conference decision under the lights at Sullivan Aquatic Center.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Engs paced the Broncos (8-12) with three goals and an assist. He converted a five-meter penalty in the third period, added another late in that same frame, and capped his night with an even-strength goal in the fourth. Riccardo De Simon scored twice on five-meter opportunities — the first in the opening quarter to put Santa Clara on the board and another midway through the third — while also winning three of the four sprints to open possessions. Reese Jenican netted a goal in the second and another just before the end of the third quarter as part of Santa Clara's four-goal surge in that period.
   
• Ashton Brown and Thomas Wisdom rounded out the scoring, with Brown's first-quarter tally from Imme van der Schaaf narrowing the early gap to 3-2 and Wisdom converting in the final minute off a feed from Grant Roesch. Jason Alietti, Beck Early, and goalkeeper Owen Van Stralen each added assists, with Van Stralen setting up Engs' second of the night.
   
• The Broncos generated 27 shots and drew eight exclusions while converting three of four five-meter chances against the No. 3 team in the nation. Stanford scored on five of six power plays. Alex Gheorghe and Max Zelikov led the Cardinal with three goals each.

COMING UP

• Santa Clara next travels to Colorado on Saturday to face Air Force in a West Coast Conference matchup. Fans can find live coverage links on SantaClaraBroncos.com.