SANTA CLARA, Calif.- After a disappointing loss at No. 4 Stanford, the No. 15 Bronco men's water polo team will head down to Southern California for the SoCal Tournament, hosted by UC Irvine. The Broncos will kick off the weekend against No. 3 Pacific. This will be the third time they have matched up this season. 

"We have already seen them twice, and we know they are very good," said Bronco head coach Keith Wilbur. "We played them better the second time than the first, and we are looking to improve again."

The Broncos have fallen to the Tigers in their previous two encounters this season, but hope to pull out a win against them. The last two match ups against Pacific have proved to be challenging, but Wilbur believes that the team has better knowledge on hoe to play Pacific in this match up, as well as some of the other top-ranking competition they could face this weekend.

"The SoCal Tournament is very similar to the NorCal Tournament that we played in three weeks ago," said Wilbur. "In a field of 16 teams, 15 are ranked in the top 20. With such a strong field, we are guaranteed to see great competition all weekend, and we look forward to the opportunity to play some of the best teams in the country. I believe the best way to learn how to win these types of games is to keep playing in them."

Depending on the outcome of their first game, the Broncos could go on to face No. 6 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos or the No. 11 Concordia University Irvine Eagles at either 4:50 pm or 6:15 pm on Saturday. 

After this weekend, the Broncos will head back home and have their first home game of the season against UCLA and West Valley on Oct. 20. 

Be sure to check back in throughout the weekend to see how the Broncos are doing!