Sept. 11, 2005

LA VERNE, Calif. - The Santa Clara men's water polo team concluded a solid weekend by splitting a pair of matches at the Inland Empire Classic at the University of La Verne on Sunday. The Broncos downed Claremont 10-8 in the morning opener before falling in a close 9-8 decision to Redlands.

"We had three guys sitting out in [the Redlands] match due to injury, and although we lost by a goal I think that was our best match of the weekend," said head coach Keith Wilbur. "I was really happy with a lot of the things I saw from a lot of our guys, we went deep off of the bench and they stepped up and contributed."

Riding a two-game winning streak from Saturday's tournament action, the Broncos picked up right where they left off by posting a 10-8 win over Claremont Sunday morning. Michael Petersen was strong in the cage once again, posting eight blocks to go with a steal and an assist.

Grant Allison paced the Bronco offense with two goals in the match to go with two kickouts drawn. Driver Josh Early scored a goal and assisted on two others, and Chris Parolin also posted two assists. Patrick Noack and Jack Wall turned in two-goal performances as well, and Jon Greco, Mike Detoy and Thomas Kelly each found the back of the net to round out the scoring.

In afternoon action, the Broncos narrowly fell to the Redlands Bulldogs by a score of 9-8. Petersen again performed well, posting 12 blocks and three steals in the game. Chris Parolin turned in a solid performance as well, netting two goals, drawing two kickouts and posting an assist and a steal.

Josh Early and Thomas Kelly each scored a pair of goals in the game, while Grant Allison and Jack Wall also added a goal apiece.

"It was a good weekend, we won the games we needed to win," added Wilbur. "We played a good game against Redlands and hopefully we'll get a chance to see them again."