STANFORD, Calif. - No. 17 Santa Clara men's water polo suffered just their second setback of the young season on Friday evening, falling to No. 3 Stanford 21-4 in the Avery Aquatic Center on the opening day of the 2026 Overnght MPSF Invitational.
The Broncos (6-2) got goals from
Riccardo De Simon,
Ashton Brown,
Jason Alietti and
Mathijs Dirven. The Cardinal (6-0) jumped out to 5-1 lead in the opening period and extended the advantage to 8-2 at the half. They put the contest to rest in the third quarter with eight more unanswered goals before Alietti and Dirven struck for SCU in the fourth.
Santa Clara, who entered the game 6-1 for the team's best start since 2009, will look to get back on track in tomorrow's second round against No. 14 UC Santa Barbara.
