LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Santa Clara men's water polo picked up thier biggest win of the season on Friday afternoon in the opening round of the Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) Championships. The No. 4-seed Broncos held on for dear life in the final moments of overtime to preserve a 16-15 victory over fifth-seeded Air Force at the Burns Aquatic Center. It is Santa Clara's first win in the opening round of the WWPA Championships since 2019.

The Broncos looked to have the game all but locked up at 14-13 in the final seconds of regulation, but Air Force's Kaito Ham beat the clock to even the score at 14-all with just two seconds remaining. In overtime, it was Santa Clara's Chase Raisin that struck first to break the tie and Dominick Kirk added another goal to give the Broncos some breathing room with just 1:23 remaining in the sixth period. Air Force punched back with goal of their own to make it a one-score affair with a minute to play. The Falcons then had one final chance to even the score in the waning seconds, but Chase Zamborelli came up with back-to-back monster blocks to preserve the victory. 

The third quarter belonged to the Falcons as they outscored SCU 4-1 to even the score at 9-9 at the end of the period. The final eight minutes of action consisted of 10 combined goals between the programs, ultimately ending in Air Force's buzzer-beating score to send the game to overtime. 

Eight total Broncos found the back of the net in the winning effort. Jackson Westerman and Raisin both scored three goals while Zach Fales, Eldredge,  Kirk, and Billy Barry followed with two goals each. Caedmon Fisher and Reese Jenican chipped on a goal each. Raisin stuffed the stat sheet with two assists, a steal and a drawn exclusion. 

Zamborelli was tasked with protecting the net for all 38 minutes, finishing with a whopping 21 saves, none bigger than his two at the end of regulation. 

With the win under their belt, the Broncos move forward in the winner's bracket and will take on 1-seed UC Davis tomorrow at noon.