Oct. 16, 2009
SANTA CLARA, Calif. -
Sat., Oct. 17, 2009 at Stanford, Avery Aquatic Center Stanford, Calif. 12 p.m.
Sun., Oct. 18, 2009 at California, Spieker Aquatic Center Berkeley, Calif. 12 p.m.
Sun., Oct. 18, 2009 at California "B", Spieker Aquatic Center Berkeley, Calif. 1:30 p.m.
The No. 16 Santa Clara men's water polo team (13-5) resumes action this weekend after approximately a two-week break, facing No. 2 California and No. 3 Stanford on the road. The match against the Cardinal will take place at the Avery Aquatic Center Stadium Pool and the matches against the Golden Bears will be played at the Spieker Aquatics Complex.
The Broncos are currently trying to break a two-game losing streak, having dropped their last two matches to Pomona-Pitzer and then-ranked No. 2 UCLA.
Senior Jack Wall leads the offense with 45 goals on 87 attempts (.517) and 33 assists. Junior Nick Poggetti has 32 goals on 60 attempts (.533), and senior Liam Farrell has 27 goals. Sophomore goalkeeper Michael Wishart, in 18 starts, has 135 blocks for an average of 7.5 blocks per game, 19 steals, and 13 assists.
Stanford (12-1), formerly the nation's top-ranked squad, dropped down to No. 3 after taking third at the UC Irvine Invitational this weekend. The Cardinal fell to Cal, 10-8, in the semifinal for its first loss of the season. Brothers Drac and Janson Wigo are the two biggest producers on a formidable starting-six with 35 and 27 goals, respectively. Goalkeeper Jimmie Sandman has played in all but one game, turning away 116 shots for a goals-against-average of 4.92 against some of the nation's toughest competition.
Sunday, Santa Clara will play two matches with Golden Bears (11-4), and it will be the second time this season the two squads have met. Last time out at the NorCal Invitational, and the Bears took that match 14-9. Cal is coming off an impressive showing last weekend at the UCI Invitational, where the Golden Bears finished 3-1 with victories over Pacific (14-6), Loyola Marymount (9-8) and previously unbeaten and top-ranked Stanford (10-8), before falling to USC, 7-6, in the title match. Ivan Rackov has 30 goals in 15 matches and Zack White has 25 tallies in 12 games. Wil Toppen is the top Cal goalie, making 73 saves in 10 matches (286 minutes) for a goals-against-average of 7.50.
Following this weekend's road matches, the Broncos will host another tournament, The Rodeo, at the Sullivan Aquatic Center, and a single match against UC Santa Barbara before beginning a five-game conference match run.
