Sept. 26, 2009
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - No. 10 Santa Clara is 9-2 overall after winning twice today in the Bronco Invitational, defeating Cal Lutheran and Whittier in the Broncos first ever tournament at the newly-built Sullivan Aquatic Center.
At 8 a.m. the Broncos defeated Cal Lutheran 17-10. Santa Clara was led by senior All-American Jack Wall, who scored six goals, including two each in the first, second and fourth periods. Liam Farrell added four goals for the Broncos and Nicholas Poggetti had three. Goalie Michael Wishart saved eight attempts this morning.
"Our counter attack was really strong this morning and we scored a lot of goals through that early," said Bronco water polo coach Keith Wilbur. "It was our first home game and a good way to start the tournament. Our strength is our defense and we didn't play all our defense this morning. But, I have to give Cal Lutheran credit - we couldn't shut them down."
Santa Clara took an early 3-0 lead before the two teams scored two each to end the first period with Santa Clara up 5-2.
CLU tied it 5-5 with three straight goals early in the second period. Santa Clara scored four straight goals to take a 9-5 lead at the end of period two, including a goal by Wall at :25.
In period three Santa Clara scored four of the five goals put in the net, taking a 13-6 lead at the end of the period.
In the fourth period, Santa Clara went up 16-9 on a goal by Poggetti. CLU added a late goal at :21, but Santa Clara took the game, winning 17-10.
Against Whittier, Santa Clara jumped out to a 5-1 lead after the first quarter and never looked back.
Sophomore James Case got things going in the first minute of the game, and Whittier tied it up just seconds later. The Broncos went up 2-1 courtesy of junior Mitch Klipa’s goal during the six-on-five, and got another goal a man up from Poggetti. Finishing out the quarter, Poggetti added one more and junior Stephen Hobbs also posted a point.
Farrell had two goals in the second period, one in a sequence where Santa Clara put high pressure on the Poets’ goal. Senior Jack Wall found sophomore Daley Meistrell on the left, but a defender initially prevented him from getting the ball. Meistrell picked it up and took a shot while being hassled by the defense, which was saved. Farrell gathered the rebound and flipped it in before Whittier could recover.
The Broncos were also awarded a 5-meter shot in the first half when Will Jackson didn’t get out of the pool after his exclusion, but Wall’s shot was saved by Casey Regehr. Redshirt junior Mark Soares put one in the net before half, but the Poets scored on a man-up situation, making it 8-2 at the midway point.
Farrell added his final goal of the game, along with Case and Wall to extend the lead by nine in the third quarter, and the Broncos got their last two goals in the fourth quarter. Whittier scored three times in the last eight minutes, but at that point the Broncos were too far out in front.
Wishart finished with nine saves, and freshman goalie John Nash had three. Poet netminder Reghr ended with 12.
Santa Clara will be back in the pool at 9:20 a.m. tomorrow in their third game of the tournament, taking on Redlands.
