Oct. 29, 2006
DAVIS, Calif. - Santa Clara wrapped up competition at the Aggie Shootout hosted by UC Davis on Sunday morning with a 12-8 victory over the Air Force Academy. For the tournament, the Broncos went 1-2, after dropping decisions to UC Davis and UC San Diego on Saturday.
Sunday's victory over Air Force was an important one against a conference opponent. On offense, the Broncos were led by sophomores Billy Gorin and Jack Wall. Gorin had three goals, two assists and three steals, while Wall had two goals, three assists and two kickouts drawn. Defensively, Daniel Soares, Luke Oda and Liam Farrell combined to draw five kickouts and a 5-meter penalty shot, which was a big boost for the offense. All three of Gorin's goals came during exclusions.
Saturday was a tough day for the Broncos, who dropped decisions to No. 13 ranked UC Davis and No. 5 ranked UC San Diego. Heading into the weekend, UC Davis was the only WWPA opponent that had beaten Santa Clara, when they defeated the Broncos 13-6 on October 1st in Santa Clara. That decision was Santa Clara's only loss in their last 12 games.
Santa Clara came out much stronger this time, and the match was very close throughout. After going down 2-1 at the end of the first quarter, Santa Clara battled back and the score was tied 4-4 at halftime. In the third quarter, the Broncos fell behind again 7-5, but responded with three goals in the fourth quarter to end regulation tied up at 8-8. Unfortunately, in the first overtime period Davis managed to sneak in two goals, and the match ended 10-8. Despite the loss, the Broncos were led by junior Mike Detoy who had three goals, a steal and a whopping five kickouts drawn.
The afternoon match against UC San Diego was another tough one, as the No. 5 Tritons scored 12 goals to defeat the Broncos 12-7. Again, Mike Detoy was a force at two meters, scoring two more goals to bring his goal total for the day up to five. Jack Wall, Billy Gorin, Daniel Soares, Jeff Welch and Luke Oda each contributed a goal. Robert Callahan and Jon Young split time in the cage, with Callahan recording three blocks, and Young recording four.
This was the last tournament for the Broncos before the Western Water Polo Association Championships which begin Friday, November 17th in Pomona, Calif. Next weekend, Santa Clara will visit WWPA rival UC Santa Cruz on Saturday, November 4th and then travel to the University of California on Sunday, November 5th in Berkeley, Calif.. After next weekend, the Broncos will have one more weekend of competition before the WWPA Championships.