Men's Water Polo Falls Twice at Shootout

Posted: Oct 26, 2003

Oct. 26, 2003

FAIRFIELD, Calif. - The 17th-ranked Santa Clara University men's water polo team dropped its final two matches at the UC Davis Shootout, falling to sixth-ranked UC San Diego 11-4 and Division III third-ranked UC Santa Cruz 12-7. As host UC Davis' new pool is still under construction, the matches were played at Solano Community College in Fairfield.

"I thought we could have played better in the first half, but thought we finished well," SCU head coach Keith Wilbur said regarding the match against the Tritons. "Our team saw how we stacked up against a top-10 team and we'll be able to play better against them next time."

UC San Diego led just 2-1 following the opening quarter, but scored seven of the next eight goals to put the contest out of reach. Whit Gilfillan netted two goals to lead the Broncos, while Patrick Noack and Daniel Figoni added one each. Peter Moore registered six blocks in goal, while Floyd Tucker closed the contest by making two saves.

Against UC Santa Cruz, the Broncos were outscored 4-0 in the first quarter and were down 5-0 before putting a score on the board. Santa Clara drew to within 9-7 in the fourth quarter, but could not overcome the early deficit.

Figoni, Kenny Flanagan-De La Hoz and Jon Greco scored two each for the Broncos, while Logan Gee added one tally. Moore registered five saves in goals, adding one steal and one assist. Grant Allison sparked the Bronco offense by drawing four kick outs.

"Santa Cruz played a great game," Wilbur described. "We didn't come out as strong as we needed to be and got into a whole we tried to battle out of the whole game. They were the better team today than the first two times we played them. I hope this will be a lesson to our team to be focused for every game. Santa Cruz deserved to win today, and it will certainly add something to the rivalry when we play them again in two weeks."

The Broncos, 15-10 on the season, will take on fifth-ranked UCLA next weekend in a match hosted by UC Santa Cruz at its East Fieldhouse. The contest is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m.