The No. 18 Santa Clara men's water polo team fell twice, first to No. 8 Loyola Marymount, 8-6, and then to No. 15 UC Davis, 7-4, today in the final day of competition in the 2010 NorCal Invitational.
Both games were tightly contested and were good early-season tests for the Broncos against conference opponents.
Against Loyola Marymount, the Broncos built momentum with a 3-1 lead after the first eight minutes, but the Lions answered back in the second quarter, tying the game, 4-4, at halftime.
Santa Clara was held scoreless by LMU in the third quarter and found themselves down by three with one quarter to go. The Broncos took the fourth quarter, 2-1, but their comeback attempt fell short.
Senior Nick Poggetti had a strong game with two goals. Also scoring was senior Mitch Klipa and juniors James Case, Daley Meistrell, and Brett Zylstra. Junior goalie Michael Wishart saved six shots.
In the afternoon match, the Aggies took control in the middle of the game, scoring five goals to the Broncos' two in the second and third quarters after a 1-1 knot ended the first eight minutes. Santa Clara received goals from four different players in the game and one goal each quarter. Scoring was Meistrell, Case, Poggetti, and sophomore Patrick Weiss. Wishart had six saves.
The Broncos, now 4-5 overall, will get a chance to avenge its loss to UC Davis, playing them again in just six days to open the Aggie Shootout in Davis, Calif.
