LOS ANGELES — The No. 14 Santa Clara University men's water polo team concluded the 2025 Overnght MPSF Invitational with a statement victory Sunday in the 13th-place game, beating No. 17 UC Santa Barbara for the first time in program history, 11-10, at USC's Uytengsu Aquatics Center to finish the weekend with a 2-2 record.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Deadlocked at 8–8 early in the fourth quarter, the No. 14 Broncos (6-4) delivered in the clutch with a three-goal sequence that proved decisive. Riccardo De Simon broke the tie with a power-play goal at the 6:01 mark, Ashton Brown followed with the go-ahead score at 4:47, and Grant Roesch finished the run with a strike at 1:35 that gave Santa Clara an 11–9 lead.
   
• Roesch's goal ultimately stood as the difference-maker, as the Gauchos added one final score with six seconds remaining but could not complete the comeback.
   
• The fourth-quarter surge capped a back-and-forth game that featured five ties and three lead changes. After UC Santa Barbara tied the game 3–3 early in the second period following back-to-back goals from Danilo Dragovic, it grabbed its second lead of the game at 4–3. Santa Clara quickly responded, with Thomas Wisdom tying the game at 4-4, Imme van der Schaaf putting the Broncos back up, 5-4, and Henry Engs scoring with 11 seconds left in the half to snap another tie and put SCU up, 6–5, at the break.
   
• Luke Baird scored both of Santa Clara's goals in the third quarter, first giving them a two-goal cushion at 7-5 to start the frame, then answering a Gauchos goal to put Santa Clara back up by two at 8-6.
   
• After giving up the opening goal of the game 2 minutes, 16 seconds into the first quarter, the Broncos rattled off three straight — from Jason Alietti, Thomas Wisdom, and De Simon — to lead 3–1 after one.
   
• De Simon, Baird and Wisdom each finished with two goals, while Brown, Engs, Alietti, van der Schaaf and Roesch gave the Broncos eight goal scorers in the game.
   
• Dragovic led all scorers with four goals for UC Santa Barbara. Harrison Labrosse earned the victory in net with seven saves, while Levi Lentin made six stops for UCSB.

COMING UP

• Santa Clara begins a four-game home stand on Saturday versus No. 9 UC Davis. The Broncos will also face UC Santa Barbara again on Oct. 3 at home, welcome West Coast Conference foe and No. 10-ranked Pacific on Oct. 5, and No. 7 Long Beach State on Oct. 11. Fans can purchase tickets and find all live coverage links on SantaClaraBroncos.com.