SANTA CLARA, Calif. – The No. 17 men's water polo team closed out their regular season play with a home matchup against conference rival No. 14 UC Davis. The Aggies edged out the Broncos and left the pool with the 11-7 win.
The Broncos honored their six graduating seniors before the game, David Guibord, Casidhe McClone, Matt Kochalko, Kyle Nadel, Matt Pritchett and Mark Davis.
The Aggies jumped out with a one-goal lead to start the first quarter. Kyle Nadel broke free in front of the cage, scoring a goal, to tie the game 1-1. Will Grant drew a penalty shot that was taken and converted by Mark Davis to take the 2-1 lead for the Broncos. The Aggies went on a two-goal run to take the lead, but John Raineri converted the Broncos man-up opportunity to tie the game 3-3.
David Guibord pulled out his signature trick shot to start the second quarter, 4-3 Broncos. The Aggies went on a three-goal run to take the 6-4 lead going into half.
After battling for the first two minutes of the quarter, Davis slid one past the Aggies, bringing the Broncos back within one, 6-5. The Aggies went on another two-goal run before Davis threw in his third goal of the game. The Aggies maintained a two-goal lead going into the fourth quarter, 8-6.
Assisted by Casidhe McClone, Guibord tapped one in over the Aggie goalies head, making it 8-7. The Aggies got three more by the Bronco defense, closing out the game with the 11-7 win.
The Broncos will now use this next week to prepare for the WWPA tournament, hosted by Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles.