SAN JOSE, Calif. - The Santa Clara Men's Water Polo Team couldn't mount a strong enough comeback in the 4th quarter of Saturday's season opener at No. 16 San Jose State. The Broncos scored five goals in the final period, but the Spartans took the inaugural game of their new era with a final score of 13-7.
Will Grant scored the Broncos' first goal of the season at the end of the first quarter to even the score 1-1 entering the 2nd. During the next two quarters, the Spartans stretched their lead to six. Santa Clara came out strong in the 4th quarter, and their efforts overwhelmed the Spartan defense. Their five late goals couldn't cut the deficit enough, and the game ended 13-7 in favor of the Spartans
Senior captain Evan Chang picked up right where he left off last season, earning three ejections and picking up one steal for the Broncos. Grant earned three ejections and two steals in addition to his early goal. Stephen Warnick led SCU with two goals. Joe Maestri started in goal for the Broncos and tallied 11 saves.
#16 San Jose State 13, Santa Clara 7
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |||||||||||
| SJSU | 1 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 13 | ||||||||||
| Santa Clara | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 7 |
Goals:
SCU – Stephen Warnick (2), Chase Schaaf (1), Julian Fraser (1), Reilly May (1), John Raineri (1), Will Grant (1)
SJSU – Black Grove (1), Scott Reynolds (1), Keanu Martinez (1), Igor Miljan (2), Tyler Jamieson (1), Vladimir Kazinskiy (2), Zachary Scudder (1), Justin Contreras (4)
Saves:
SCU - Joe Maestri (11), Troy Nadel (1)
SJSU - Matej Matijevic (18)
The Broncos will travel to New Jersey next weekend for the Princeton Invite to test the competition on the East Coast. They will play four games over the weekend, including matches against No. 17 Saint Francis (NY), No. 11 Brown, and No. 11 Princeton. Santa Clara will then return to the Bay Area for the NorCal Tournament in Palo Alto, CA.
