Aggie Roundup Tournament Central
DAVIS, Calif. - Santa Clara men's water polo split its two games in Saturday's action at the Aggie Roundup.
The Broncos (5-3) downed Redlands, 20-21, after falling to top-ranked USC, 18-6, at UC Davis.
The three-day event caps off Sunday.
GAME ONE: USC 18, Santa Clara 6
The Broncos pushed the top-ranked team in the nation in the opening half, but USC pulled away in the third quarter to post an 18-6 victory.
Carson Kranz, Jacob Mercep, Marcus Longton and Tony Nardelli each scored three goals for the Trojans who had a 38 to 24 shot advantage.
Billy Barry's goal less than 1 minute into the third quarter pulled the Broncos within 6-3, but USC answered with a run. Kranz, Longton, Max Miller and Mercep had goals within the next 3-plus minutes.
USC added two goals in the opening minute of the fourth as the lead grew to 14-5.
GAME TWO: Santa Clara 20, Redlands 12
Bennett Stafford and Dominick Kirk each scored three times to lead six players with multiple goals for Santa Clara which posted a 20-12 win over Redlands in the final game of the day at the tournament.
Ford Eldredge and Jake Taylor had two goals and two assists apiece for the Broncos who never trailed.
Santa Clara tallied the only three goals in the final 4 minutes of the second quarter to pull ahead 11-5 at halftime. Tor Cole scored 26 seconds into the third quarter for Redlands, but the Bulldogs were never closer the remainder of the game.
Max Wagener's goal tied the game at 3-all with 1:14 left in the opening quarter, but the Broncos reeled of the next four goals with Kirk and Stafford scoring within 29 seconds early in the second period.
Billy Barry was credited with a goal and a career-high five assists for Santa Clara.
NOTES
- The goal total against the Redlands matched a season-high (also vs. Gannon, Sept. 5) and is the most for the Broncos since a 22-11 victory over Ottawa University-Arizona at the 2019 Aggie Roundup.
- Matt Peterson, Michael Kreienkamp, Jake Taylor, Blake D'Souza, Chase Raisin and Dominick Kirk started against USC, along with goalie Chase Zamborelli who made 10 saves. Kreienkamp was in the starting lineup for the first time in his career.
- Sean Tehaney started in net against Redlands and made nine blocks. Ford Eldredge, Peterson, Taylor, D'Souza, Raisin and Kirk were also in the starting lineup.
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