SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Santa Clara men’s water polo went into the Kap7 NorCal Invitational, fresh off its home opener in front of a packed Sullivan Aquatic Center crowd last week.
The 16-team tournament hosted by Stanford included 13 teams ranked in the Collegiate Water Polo Association’s top-20 rankings. The Broncos faced three of these teams during their four-game weekend, highlighted by a win over No. 13 San Jose State on Sunday.
Santa Clara (3-7) has played six ranked teams spanning its first ten games.
The Broncos played their best game of the weekend in their final match Sunday afternoon. It was a rematch of the Broncos’ season-opener against No. 13 San Jose State, and saw goalkeeper Troy Nadel step up and make 20 saves to lead SCU to a 10-4 win.
The score was tied through the first quarter and most of the second until DeMarco Orella put two past the Spartan keeper in the last two minutes to extend the score to 6-4 entering halftime. The second half was all SCU as Nadel anchored the Bronco defense by shutting out SJSU during the second half. Santa Clara found the back of the net six more times and claimed victory with a final score of 10-4.
The first matchup for SCU at the Kap7 NorCals pitted them against tournament host No. 4 Stanford. The perennial powerhouse offered few chances for the Broncos to begin the tournament on the right foot, taking a 14-0 lead into halftime. Santa Clara was able to slow them down in the second half, but could not put up a goal against the Cardinal defense, ending the game 18-0. The Broncos found success with a total of 12 earned ejections, led by Will Grant’s four, but could not convert on the man-up opportunities.
Santa Clara’s next opponent was No. 10 UC San Diego. Owen Asalone continued to impress for the Broncos, scoring twice in the first quarter, allowing the Broncos a 5-4 lead entering the second. Goalkeeper Joe Maestri tallied 11 saves in the game, but the Tritons kicked into gear after an 8-8 tie at halftime. They scored seven goals in the second half while only allowing three, ending the game 15-11 in favor of the Tritons.
Sunday morning the Broncos faced off with Redlands in a defensive battle that saw four ties and four lead changes. SCU was leading at halftime 3-2, and a quick goal from each team in the third made it 4-3. Redlands then went on a three-goal run until the Broncos responded with a last second goal from Graham McClone to make it 6-5, Redlands advantage, entering the final period. Santa Clara could not get even with Redlands, and after each team scored once the game ended 7-6 in favor of Redlands. Maestri again anchored the Broncos with 14 saves. Grant and John Raineri each contributed two goals.
After this weekend, the Broncos’ overall record moves to 3-7. Santa Clara will next participate in the Aggie Shootout Sept. 26-27 hosted by No. 10 UC Davis in Davis, Calif.
#4 Stanford 18, Santa Clara
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |||||||||||
| Stanford |
7 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 18 | ||||||||||
| Santa Clara | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Saves: Maestri (3), Nadel (2), Huebner (1)
#10 UC San Diego 15, Santa Clara 11
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |||||||||||
| UCSD | 4 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 15 | ||||||||||
| Santa Clara | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 11 |
Goals: Orella (1), Fraser (2), McClone (1), Asalone (2), Chang (1), Franco (1), Raineri (1), Estrella (1), Toriggino (1)
Saves: Maestri (11)
Redlands 7, Santa Clara 6
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |||||||||||
| Redlands |
1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 7 | ||||||||||
| Santa Clara | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
Goals: Fraser (1), McClone (1), Raineri (2), Grant (2)
Saves: Maestri (14)
#13 San Jose State 4, Santa Clara 10
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |||||||||||
| SJSU |
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||||||||||
| Santa Clara | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 10 |
Goals: Orella (2), Fraser (2), McClone (2), Zurnacian (2)
Saves: Nadel (20)
