WWPA Championships Tournament Schedule/Bracket
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. – The Santa Clara men’s water polo team dropped its first contest of the Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) Championships on Friday, falling to UC San Diego, 11-9.
Third-seeded and No. 16-ranked UC San Diego has knocked off the No. 6 seed and 15th-ranked Broncos four times this season, but all were close and competitive games.
Only down 6-5 at half, SCU came out strong in the third quarter with three unanswered goals, one by DeMarco Orella and two by Graham McClone. UC San Diego fired back for the rest of the quarter, scoring four straight times.
Nick Alexander added an insurance goal for the Tritons with 2:45 left in the game, exending the lead to 11-8. The Broncos answered less than a minute later when John Raineri found the back of the net, but were unable to capitalize on the momentum and now move on to face No. 4 seed Fresno Pacific.
McClone and Raineri led the Broncos with two goals each. Goalkeeper Joe Maestri continued to impress with 15 saves.
Seven players scored for UC San Diego with Alexander, Jack Ellinthorpe, Cole Martinez and Cole Martinez posting two apiece.
Santa Clara and Fresno Pacific will meet Saturday at 10:30 a.m. Pacific. SCU topped the Sunbirds two weeks ago at Sullivan Aquatic Center. For updates, follow @SCUPolo on Twitter.
No. 3 UC San Diego 11, No. 6 Santa Clara 9
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |||||||||||
| UC San Diego | 3 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 11 | ||||||||||
| Santa Clara | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
9 |
Goals: Graham McClone (2), John Raineri (2), Garrat Johnson (1), Demarco Orella (1), Julian Fraser (1), Owen Asalone (1), Matt Godar (1)
