Sept. 26, 2003

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. - The Santa Clara University men's water polo team earned a 7-6 victory over Division III-fifth-ranked Whittier this evening in continuing action at the Slugfest Invitational, hosted by UC Santa Cruz at its East Field House.

The win marked the Broncos' fourth straight, as they improve to 7-2 on the season.

Daniel Figoni, Kenny Flanagan-De La Hoz and Kevin Starry scored two goals each, while Whit Gilfillan also added a tally for the Broncos. Peter Moore had 10 saves and one steal in goal.

SCU Head coach Keith Wilbur credited Gilfillan and Starry's performance today, as Gilfillan also drew four kick outs, while Starry had three assists, two steals and drew a four-meter penalty shot.

"It was a pretty tight game all the way through," Wilbur said. "It's hard to play a game right after a huge victory like we had against BYU-Hawaii, but our guys found a way to grind out another win."

Earlier in the day, the Broncos opened the tournament with a 9-3 victory over 17th-ranked BYU-Hawaii. Figoni and Flanagan-De La Hoz scored four goals each to lead Santa Clara.

Santa Clara remains at the Invitational with four more matches on the weekend. On Saturday, Santa Clara will battle Division III-tNo. 6 Claremont at 10:45 a.m. and then the No. 1 Division III team in Redlands at 4:10 p.m. Sunday's matches are against 15th-ranked U.S. Air Force Academy (9:05 a.m.) and Division III (tied for) sixth-ranked Pomona-Pitzer (3:35 p.m.).