RODEO TOURNAMENT SCOREBOARD/RESULTS
SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Following a pair of exciting wins Thursday and Friday night, the 16th-ranked Santa Clara Bronco water polo team dropped Saturday morning’s game to Harvard, then were down 6-3 to No. 18 Saint Francis of Brooklyn in the afternoon, before rallying for a 12-9 win.
Graham McClone scored three second-half goals and teammate Will Grant scored twice during SCU’s comeback effort in the third. Homestanding Santa Clara (8-15) out-scored St. Francis (8-8) 9-3 after the halftime break.
“We were really stagnant this morning and that carried over to the first half (against S. Francis),” said Santa Clara head coach Keith Wilbur. “But it was our energy in the second half that won this game for us, especially on defense. The guys had to really work hard and they did. That created scoring opportunities for us on the other end.”
The Broncos have won 3-of-4 during its current homestand this week, with another to play Sunday as part of its 18-game, 10-team Rodeo Tournament at the Sullivan Aquatic Center.
Against Harvard (11-8), Santa Clara could not get anything going offensively in the 7-2 loss during the morning session. The Crimson scored three times in the first period and put in three more in during the second to lead 6-2 at the intermission.
"Credit (Harvard), they did a great job pressing defensively," said Wilbur. "But we didn't move the ball well enough, passing, executing on our end. Then when we took shots, our legs just weren't there. Might have been some fatigue from the past two days catching up to us."
Santa Clara had not only beat No. 10 Brown Friday in overtime, but won a key conference match-up with Cal Baptist 9-8 on Thursday. Its two goals Saturday morning matched a season-low.
SCU faces No. 13 Bucknell Sunday at 12 noon.
No. 16 Santa Clara 12, No. 18 St. Francis 9
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FINAL | |||||
| St. Francis |
3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 | ||||
| Santa Clara | 2 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 12 |
SCU Goals: Graham McClone (3), John Raineri (2), Will Grant (2), Evan Chang (1), Owen Asalone (1), Sam Toriggino (1), DeMarco Orella (1)
SCU Saves: Troy Nadel (9)
Harvard 7, Santa Clara 2
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FINAL | |||||
| St. Francis |
3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 7 | ||||
| Santa Clara | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
SCU Goals: Owen Asalone (1), Sam Toriggino (1)
SCU Saves: Joe Maestri (8)
