Sept. 24, 2005

Santa Cruz, Calif. - Less than 24 hours after winning its first Western Water Polo Association conference match, the Santa Clara men's water polo team came back to the pool and added another conference victory under its belt. In its first match of the Slugfest Classic, hosted by UC Santa Cruz, SCU (5-3, 2-0 WWPA) took out Whittier College 9-5. Sophomores Luke Oda and Charlie Moore were the leading scorers for the Broncos with two goals apiece.

"It was a really good game for us. Last year, they beat us in the last match of the year by a goal, so this was a solid win for us," said head coach Keith Wilbur. "We have a good rivalry going with them and it's always competitive when we face off."

The first half was a tightly contested match, as neither team was able to pull away from one another. With the score tied at 4-4 and only seconds before the end of the second period, Oda scored a goal to give his team a lead that they would never surrender. In the third and fourth quarters, a stingy Bronco defense limited their WWPA opponent to only one goal, while a productive counterattack accounted for much of the team's four second half goals.

Other players who contributed to the score include Kevin Starry, Whit Gilfillan, Thomas Kelly, Jack Wall, and Tom Hendrickson, as they all put up one goal. Wall played a great all-around game, providing the team with two assists and three steals. Other players who had a solid game include Starry, who was credited with four steals and drew a kickout and a penalty shot; Chris Parolin, who had an assists and drew three kickouts and a penalty shot, and Grant Allison, who had two steals and drew a kickout and penalty shot. Mike Petersen played superbly in the cage, notching 10 blocks for the afternoon.

Santa Clara returns to action this afternoon when it faces another WWPA foe in UC San Diego at 2:30 p.m.