Sept. 19, 2009

STANFORD, Calif. - The No. 12 Santa Clara men's water polo team regrouped today to defeat No. 14 Air Force 10-6 at the NorCal Invitational at Stanford after falling to California earlier in the day.

The Broncos took a one goal lead into the second quarter and doubled it by halftime.  At the end of the third, Santa Clara retained its two goal lead, and scored two more insurance goals in the fourth quarter to go on to victory.

Sophomore James Case recorded four goals to lead the offense, while junior Nick Poggetti had three, freshman Jack Penner had two, and Jack Wall had one.  Case added four steals to his credit and Penner played well in the fourth quarter to preserve the win.  Wall drew three kickouts and junior Steven Hobbs earned two, while junior Mitch Klipa had three assists.  Sophomore goalkeeper Michael Wishart recorded 12 saves in the contest.

"We played well as a team, and it shows in the stats," said head coach Keith Wilbur.  "Our defense also played well as a unit and Wishart had some big saves in the fourth quarter to help us pull out the victory."

The Broncos will face No. 18 UC Davis tomorrow at noon in the Avery Aquatic Center Stadium Pool. Should Santa Clara win the match, they will play the winner of Long Beach State and UC San Diego at 5:20 p.m. for ninth place.

Santa Clara Goal Scorers: Case 4, Poggetti 3, Penner 2, Wall
Air Force Goal Scorers:Geiger 3, Churnside, Hines, Shields
Goalie Saves: Wishart 12 (SCU); Harold 9 (AF)

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Sept. 19, 2009

STANFORD, Calif. -  The No. 12 Santa Clara men's water polo team suffered its first loss of the year today, falling to No. 3 California 14-9 in the Broncos first match of the NorCal Invitational at Stanford.

Santa Clara stayed with the Golden Bears in the first half, and were never down by more than two goals. Unfortunately for the Broncos, in the third period Cal broke away with a four goal lead and never looked back, going on to the 14-9 victory.

Senior Jack Wall had three goals in the contest, while classmates Liam Farrell and Mike Sorgenfrei had two each. Freshman Jack Penner and redshirt junior Jeff Welch also added one each. Sophomore goalkeeper Michael Wishart finished with eight saves.

Wall had two assists and two steals in the game, while Sorgenfrei had two assists and drew three kickouts.  

"It was a tough match, and it always is against Cal, who is a great team," said head coach Keith Wilbur.  "We hung with them well, but in the end they got the better of us."

Santa Clara, now 5-1, will play No. 14 Air Force at 4:00pm at the Avery Aquatic Center Stadium. Due to the formatting of the brackets, the best the Broncos can finish in the tournament, should they win out the rest of the way, is ninth place.

Santa Clara Goal Scorers: Wall 3, Farrell 2, Sorgenfrei 2, Penner, Welch
California Goal Scorers: Nasoff 4, Greenwood 2, Steffens 2, White 2, Cox, Rackov, Tuiasau, Warden
Goalie Saves: Wishart 8 (SCU), McIntosh 7 (C)