SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Santa Clara women's water polo earned a split in its first two home games of the season.
The Broncos (4-7) downed Cal State Monterey Bay, 12-7, before losing a heartbreaker to UC Davis, 7-6, on Saturday in the Santa Clara Invitational, a one-day mini-tournament.
UC Davis defeated Cal State Monterey Bay, 14-7, in the other game.
Game One: Santa Clara 12, Cal State Monterey Bay 7
Hailey Eberle posted a career-high five goals and Hannah Buck scored four times to lead Santa Clara to a 12-7 win over Cal State Monterey Bay.
Lydia Dadd picked up the win in net for the Broncos who went 5 of 8 with the extra attacker and nailed their lone 5-meter attempt.
Dadd had four of her eight saves in the first period when Santa Clara scored six times.
Eberle, Katie Francis and Gabi Sicat each scored on the power play within a 2-minute span in the opening period and the lead eventually grew to 8-1 midway through the second quarter.
Olivia Centis and Morgan Tucker each scored twice for the Otters (2-7) who went 2-for-6 with the man advantage and missed their lone 5-meter attempt.
Eberle also had three assists and Sicat collected two goals and two assists.
Maggie Oys had two assists and two steals for the Broncos
Game Two: UC Davis 7, Santa Clara 6
Noelle Wijnbelt scored three times, including twice in the final 2 minutes, to lead 11th-ranked UC Davis to a come-from-behind 7-6 win against Santa Clara.
Hannah Buck and Hailey Eberle had two goals apiece for the Broncos who went 3-for-10 with the extra attacker.
Buck's final goal, on a 5-meter attempt, extended the Santa Clara lead to 6-4 with less than 5 minutes remaining in the game, but Annie Kutt answered quickly with a score for the Aggies (8-8).
UC Davis went only 1-for-8 on the power play in the first 30 minutes, but took advantage on their final attempt as Wijnbelt cashed in with 1:12 left to tie the score.
After an empty possession for the Broncos, Wijnbelt scored the game-winner with 21 seconds left.
NOTES
• Hannah Buck, Emma Allegrucci, Annie Eldredge, Lauren Paxton, Maggie Oys, Hailey Eberle and Lydia Dadd started both games. Buck, Allegrucci, Eldredge, Paxton and Eberle have started all 11 games.
NEXT UP
The Broncos play at Stanford on Friday (6 p.m.) and face San Jose State at home on Saturday (noon).
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