Nov. 3, 2005

Santa Clara, Calif. - The Santa Clara men's water polo team has a chance on Saturday to earn a regular season sweep of Western Water Polo Association rival UC Santa Cruz. The Broncos have a chance to take their second match of the year from the Banana Slugs, and their third straight, stemming from last season. In early October, SCU defeated UCSC by a score of 5-3. Last season, Santa Clara and UC Santa Cruz met four times, splitting the series at two victories a piece. The Broncos had the final word last in 2004, dominating the Banana Slugs 9-3 in a WWPA Championship match.

The Broncos enter Saturday's match with a 13-13 overall record heading into the final two weeks of regular season play. In their last meeting with Santa Cruz, five different players put the ball in the back of the net for the Broncos, a testament to the depth of the Santa Clara offense. The Banana Slugs will also have to contend with the solid defense of junior goalkeeper Mike Petersen, who notched nine blocks and two steals in the last meeting with the Banana Slugs.

"Our game against Santa Cruz this weekend is going to be a big game. On top of the fact that we have good rivalry going with Santa Cruz, we are also coming off a couple of tough one-goal losses from last weekend," said head coach Keith Wilbur regarding the upcoming contest with the Banana Slugs. "Every time we play Santa Cruz, it is a battle, so we need to anticipate another close game, and we need to be ready to execute well at the end of the game."

The match is set for noon on Saturday, November 5 in Santa Cruz. Santa Clara wraps up its regular season schedule in Stockton with a November 12 match-up with No. 9 Pacific.