Oct. 3, 2009

CLAREMONT, Calif. -

The No. 11 Santa Clara men's water polo team nearly went perfect at the Claremont Convergence in southern California today, but was surprised by Pomona-Pitzer in the final game to nix the 4-0 mark.

The Broncos defeated Fresno Pacific 13-8 in the 9 a.m. game, getting a three-goal performance out of junior Stephen Hobbs. Senior Liam Farrell, sophomore Daley Meistrell, junior Nick Poggetti, and senior Jack Wall also contributed multiple goals, while sophomore James Case notched four assists, two steals, and one goal. Sophomore goalie Michael Wishart and freshman John Nash each saw time in the cage, and each blocked one shot.

In the afternoon, Santa Clara met Pomona-Pitzer in the Sagehens home pool and suffered a tough 10-9 loss. Hobbs again contributed three goals while Poggetti and Case put in two. Wishart blocked eight shots and had two steals, but it wasn't enough to overcome Pomona-Pitzer.

"We have to come out stronger," said head coach Keith Wilbur. "Like in the UC Davis loss, not having a great start hurt us again. We made a run in the fourth quarter but it wasn't good enough and Pomona-Pitzer played great. At their pool in the fourth game of the tournament, we have to be better if we want to win but we didn't do it. You have to give Pomona-Pitzer credit though, they played their hearts out."

The Broncos are back in the pool tomorrow at 11 a.m. taking on No. 2 UCLA at home at the Sullivan Aquatic Center. The Bruins played at top-ranked Stanford today, dropping their match to the Cardinal.

Santa Clara Goal Scorers: Hobbs 3, Farrell 2, Meistrell 2, Poggetti 2, Wall 2, Case 1, Weiss 1
Fresno Pacific Goal Scorers:  unavailable
Goalie Saves: Wishart (SCU) 1, Nash (SCU) 1, (Fresno Pacific) unavailable

Santa Clara Goal Scorers:  Hobbs 3, Poggetti 2, Case 2, Wall 1, Sorgenfrei 1
Pomona-Pitzer Goal Scorers:  unavailable
Goalie Saves:  Wishart (SCU) 8, (PP) unavailable