Sept. 28, 2002
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. - The Santa Clara University men's water polo team defeated Pomona-Pitzer 13-5 this afternoon in its second game of the Slugfest Invitational, hosted by UC Santa Cruz. The Broncos closed out play today with a loss to Whittier, 8-4. The matches move SCU to 5-10 on the season.
The Broncos opened the Slugfest earlier in the day with a 14-2 loss to 11th-ranked UC San Diego.
The flu bug has hit seven teammates this weekend and head coach Keith Wilbur has been juggling his lineups to compensate. Sophomore Nick Takahashi, who played in the morning game, sat out against Pomona, while Logan Gee returned to the starting lineup after sitting out the morning game.
Against Pomona, who is ranked ninth in Division III, sophomore Mark Oda and freshman Whit Gilfillan led the Broncos with three goals each while sophomore Mark Perlite and junior J.P. Doucette each posted two scores. Gee, and freshmen Jon Greco and Austin Brizgys contributed one tally apiece.
"Everything just clicked in this game," Wilbur said. "Our offense, our defense, the counterattack and our six-on-five plays just came together for us. I was really impressed, considering the health of our team. It was good to see so many guys step it up a notch and earn the victory."
Freshman Marc Hausle, Gilfillan and junior J.P. Doucette scored one goal each for the Broncos against Whittier, who is ranked 20th at the Division III level. Takahashi entered the game in the fourth quarter and scored SCU's final tally.
Sophomore Peter Moore kept up his outstanding play in goal and registered nine saves against Pomona and 11 against Whittier.
The Broncos will close out play at the Slugfest Tournament Sunday with two contests, at 10 a.m. against seventh-ranked Claremont and at 1 p.m. against Air Force.
