SANTA CLARA, Calif. - No. 19 Santa Clara men's water polo put an end to their losing skid in style. After dropping their last seven contests, including three consecutive one-loss affairs, the Broncos handled business against LIU with a 22-10 victory on the opening day of the 2026 Julian Fraser Memorial at the Sullivan Aquatic Center.
SCU scored early and often, jumping out to a 6-1 lead in the opening quarter and padding on six more goals to take a 12-4 advantage into the half. Out of the break, the Broncos scored five more goals in each of the third and fourth quarters to cruise to the victory. The 22 points are the team's second-highest scoring tally of the season (23 vs. Fresno Pacific) and just their third 20-point effort of the year.
A total of 14 Broncos found the back of the net in the winning effort led by three-goal hat tricks by
Ashton Brown,
Jamie De Zwart and
Charlie Engs.
Jason Alietti and
Jensen Welton each scored twice while
Henry Engs,
Charlie Kosinski,
Julien Chow,
Nick Zimmerman,
Darion Wang,
Marco Rizof,
Mathijs Dirven,
Reece Hammond and
Grant Roesch, in his return to the pool for the first time this season, all scratched across one goal. Wang also came away with three assists, as did
Luke Baird, who also tallied a team-best three steals.
All three goalies spent time in the net with
Harrison Labrosse allowing just four goals in the first half while making four saves.
Connor Clougherty and
Tyler Swensen both made a pair of saves as they split time over the last two quarters.
The Broncos (9-11) will look to keep the momentum running tomorrow morning against No. 20 Brown in the second day of action at the Julian Fraser Memorial. The opening sprint is set for 9:05 a.m. PT and will stream live on ESPN+.
