Sept. 11, 2002
STOCKTON, Calif. - The Santa Clara University men's water polo team fell to the 11th-ranked University of Pacific 17-3 this afternoon at Chris Kjeldsen Pool in the Tigers' season opener. The loss drops the Broncos to 1-4 on the season.
Pacific's Eddie Wisniewski, an All-American two seasons ago coming off a red-shirt season, led his team with five goals on the day, as the Tigers scored four goals in the first period.
Junior J.P. Doucette, of nearby Lodi, scored the Broncos first goal in a man-up situation, beating Tiger netminder Amir Vakhshourpour from the right side midway through the second period to make the score 6-1.
With Pacific holding an 11-1 halftime lead, fellow junior Logan Gee added to the Broncos' tally with a score off a cross during an SCU counterattack.
Sophomore Mark Oda closed out Bronco scoring in the final period off a rebound from freshman Marc Hausle's shot, which caromed off the right post.
"Although the score doesn't reflect it, I thought we did a better job at shutting down the counterattack than we did against similar top-ranked teams, like last week against LMU and the Air Force," head coach Keith Wilbur said. "Playing games like this, although it's a tough loss, gives our team the tough competition we need to be successful later in the season."
The Broncos remain on the road and will travel to Redlands for the Inland Empire Classic this weekend. Santa Clara opens on Saturday against Chaminade at 11:30 a.m. at La Verne's pool. The Broncos will follow with a 4 p.m. contest against Whittier. On Sunday, SCU will close out tournament play with a 10:10 a.m. match against Chapman and a 1:30 p.m. contest against Pomona-Pitzer.
