Nov. 20, 2009
ORANGE, Calif. - The No. 13 Santa Clara men's water polo team defeated No. 15 UC Davis, 8-6, today in a first round match at the WWPA Championships at Chapman University. The Broncos, who received the fourth seed in the tournament, move on to play top-seeded and eighth-ranked Loyola Marymount tomorrow.
Senior Jack Wall scored his lone goal of the game in the first quarter and UC Davis' Jared Clapham matched Wall's effort to keep the game tied at one after the first period. The deadlock continued through the second quarter, ending the half at 3-3. Junior Nick Poggetti and sophomore James Case each found the back of the cage, while Ryan Hagnes and Cory Lyle each scored for the Aggies.
In the third period, Liam Farrell exploded for three goals to help the Broncos take a lead by the same amount. Poggetti scored his second of the game and Ji Breen scored for UC Davis to make it a 7-4 game going into the final quarter.
Poggetti opened up the fourth quarter scoring with his third of the game with just 2:51 to play to make it 8-4. Lyle scored twice for the Aggies with 46 seconds and 13 seconds to go, respectively, but the game was out of reach for UC Davis, as the Broncos went on to the two-goal victory.
Farrell was the top player for the Broncos, and in addition to his three goals added two steals, two assists, and two kickouts drawn. Sophomore Daley Meistrell had three assists while Sorgenfrei, Wall, and sophomore goalie Michael Wishart each had one assists. Wishart had eight blocks in the match.
"The whole team played well today and we had great defense throughout the game," said head coach Keith Wilbur. "It was a tough game and UC Davis played hard but we came out well".
The Broncos clash with the Lions at 1:30 p.m. tomorrow.
