Sept. 24, 2005

Santa Cruz, Calif. - The Santa Clara men's water polo team dropped their first conference match of the year, losing to No. 5 UC San Diego 12-5 on the campus of UC Santa Cruz. In its second match of the Slugfest Classic, SCU played well in spite of the lopsided score and head coach Keith Wilbur believes his team will not lose their confidence after today's loss.

"Right now, I'd say they are the top team in our conference," said head coach Keith Wilbur. "We never like losing, but this was the best we have played against UCSD since I got to Santa Clara and this game is something to build on towards the future."

In the first quarter, the Broncos only trailed the Tritons by two goals and heading into halftime, their Southern California opponent held a slim 5-2 lead. Immediately in the third quarter, SCU scored to cut the deficit to two. However, UCSD was able to pull away from Santa Clara in the second half. UC San Diego drew 11 kickouts to Santa Clara's four, and the higher-ranked team was able to capitalize on their scoring opportunities.

Jack Wall led the Broncos in scoring, tallying two goals in the match. Charlie Moore, Chris Parolin, and Jon Greco each tossed in a goal. Mike Petersen had another great performance in the cage for Santa Clara, totaling 15 blocks and four saves on the afternoon.

Santa Clara returns to action tomorrow afternoon in its third match of the Slugfest Classic when it takes on Air Force Academy at 1:25 p.m. PT.