ORANGE, Calif. - The No. 14 Santa Clara men's water polo opened this weekend's action by taking care of business against Chapman, defeating the Panthers, 18-9.

Eight different Broncos scored in the match, led by junior James Case and freshman Tucker Carlson, who tallied four goals each.

Santa Clara took a three-goal lead at the end of the first quarter and improved it to a four-goal lead by halftime.  The Broncos scored another nine goals in the second half including a strong fourth quarter in which they scored six goals.

Carlson had a great fourth quarter, scoring three of his four goals in the quarter.

Also scoring multiple goals was junior Brett Zylstra (3), senior Josh Luebke (2), and senior Nick Poggetti (2).  Senior Stephen Hobbs, junior Daley Meistrell, and junior Marcus Akerland also marked the scoresheet.

Meistrell added four assists and three steals.  Freshman Travis Greco also had four helpers.  Poggetti had three steals and Hobbs contributed four kickouts drawn.  Hobbs and Meistrell each drew a five-meter shot as well.

Santa Clara played both goalies; junior Michael Wishart blocked five shots and had a steal and an assist. Sophomore John Nash had three saves.

"Chapman gave us a tough game and it was different for our guys to play at night," said head coach Keith Wilbur.  "Our offense was obviously good tonight, but I'd like us to play better defensively.  We'll need to tighten up our defense for tomorrow's game against Cal."

The Broncos (7-6 overall) begin play in the SoCal Tournament tomorrow morning, playing No. 3 California at 11:40 a.m. at UCLA.