Feb. 27, 2010
SANTA CLARA, Calif. -
The Santa Clara women’s water polo team split its two matches today in their first home tournament of the season, defeating Cal Baptist but falling to Pacific. In the other matches on the day, both Cal Baptist and Pacific defeated Cal State Monterey Bay.
In the morning game, the Broncos won an overtime thriller over California Baptist, 13-12. The match was back and forth, as each team alternated surges in each quarter. The Lancers took a 3-2 lead into the second quarter. Santa Clara got goals from sophomore Sarah Safir and junior transfer Caitlin Espe.
In the second half the Broncos took control, scoring four straight goals until Cal Baptist could come up with an answer with 1:22 left in the half.
The Lancers came out hard in the second half, scoring six goals to the Santa Clara’s two. Senior Jenny Knutson got her third goal of the game in the quarter while junior Taylor Harkins found the cage for the first time of the game.
The Broncos rebounded in the fourth with Knutson converting a five-meter shot to pull within one. Sophomore Marina Allen tied the game with 1:46 to play and senior Rochelle Stowe got the go-ahead goal with just 35 seconds to play. Cal Baptist caught a break when Stowe was ejected with eight seconds left and the Lancers scored to tie the game with five seconds to spare, sending the game to overtime.
Cal Baptist captured the lead, scoring the only goal of the first overtime, but Santa Clara prevailed with two goals in the second overtime. Junior transfer Whitney Allen capitalized on the 6-on-5 advantage to tie it back up with 2:10 to play and Knutson scored a game-winning buzzer-beater with just one second left on the clock.
Espe had two assists paired with her two goals and sophomore Laura Espinosa had two steals. Whitney Allen drew three kickouts and junior goalie Wren White had 15 saves.
In the afternoon game, the Broncos kept it close with Pacific through three quarters but a four goals-to-one spurt from the Tigers put the game away.
Sophomore Laura Espinosa had the Broncos only two goals in the first half as Pacific took a 4-2 lead at halftime.
Whitney Allen was credited with Santa Clara’s third goal in the third quarter to make it 4-3 in favor of the Tigers, but Pacific matched the goal late in the quarter to regain its two-goal lead.
The Tigers scored twice, one coming just seconds into the fourth quarter, to make it 7-3 with 4:43 to play. Knutson scored the Broncos’ only goal of the quarter with 3:45 left, putting in her second five-meter penalty shot of the day, but Santa Clara was unable to solve Pacific’s defense for the remainder of the game.
Stowe and Espinosa each drew two kickouts. White had 10 saves.
"The morning game was a really fun game, and I thought we improved from last weekend but we're still struggling on finding our shots on offense," head coach Keith Wilbur said following the Pacific match. "Our defense was good, but it can still be better."
The Broncos, now 7-7, will head to southern California next weekend to play UC San Diego, Cal State San Bernardino, and Chapman.
Game # 1 at The Rodeo Tournament – Feb. 27, 2010
Sullivan Aquatic Center – Santa Clara, Calif.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | 2OT | F | |
| Cal Baptist | 3 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 12 |
| Santa Clara | 2 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 13 |
CBU Goal Scorers: Chevalier 3, Brown 2, Birch 2, Gentry 2, Kovacs 1, Grutz 1, Burnett 1
SCU Goal Scorers: Knutson 4, Espe 2, Stowe 1, W. Allen 1, Norris 1, M. Allen 1, Safir 1, Harkins 1, Espinosa 1
Goalie Saves: Rogers (CBU) 6; White (SCU) 15
Game # 4 at The Rodeo Tournament – Feb. 27, 2010
Sullivan Aquatic Center – Santa Clara, Calif.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F | |
| Santa Clara | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| No. 16 Pacific | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 9 |
SCU Goal Scorers: Espinosa 2, W. Allen 1, Knutson 1
UOP Goal Scorers: Tawarahara 4, Miles 2, McCarthy 1, Larsen 1, Kosich 1
Goalie Saves: White (SCU) 10; UOP unavailable
