Oct. 29, 2005
Davis, Calif. - The Davis Shootout hasn't been a particularly kind tournament to the No. 17 Santa Clara men's water polo team, as they dropped two matches today to No. 19 Air Force and Cal Baptist. Yesterday, the Broncos lost to BYU-Hawai'i to make it a 0-3 weekend and their record now stands at 13-13.
In the first contest Saturday morning, Santa Clara and Air Force played in a low scoring affair and not much offense was generated on either side of the pool. Jack Wall led the way with two goals, while Whit Gilfillan added a goal, though it wasn't enough in the 4-3 loss. Gilfillan also drew three kickouts. In the cage, Mike Petersen tallied five blocks, one steal, and one assist.
"I thought we played with a lot of energy and it was a good game in every aspect, except that we couldn't finish some of our shots," said Santa Clara head coach Keith Wilbur. "The energy level was there, but we just have to execute better. We missed some good opportunities and when you do that you aren't going to win some games."
In the afternoon match, Santa Clara came out focused and ready in the pool, but dropped a difficult 8-7 decision to Cal Baptist in sudden death overtime. Trailing 5-6 in regulation, Tom Hendrickson netted a goal with two seconds left to send the contest into overtime. Both teams scored a goal a piece in the overtime period to send it to sudden death. Cal Baptist was the first to score, ending the intense and draining match.
"The guys played hard the entire game. It was a real tough loss, but it was a good learning situation and we'll use this experience to finish out the rest of the season strong," said Wilbur.
Grant Allison led the way for the Broncos with an outstanding all-around effort, tallying two goals, one assist, one steal and drawing four kickouts and one penalty shot. Wall also had a good game, totaling four steals, one goal, and one assist. Chris Parolin, Charlie Moore, Patrick Noack, and Hendrickson all chipped in with one goal. Petersen guarded the cage well, accumulating eight blocks and two steals.
The Broncos will return to action on Saturday, November 5 when they travel to take on the Banana Slugs of UC Santa Cruz for a noon match-up.
