SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Returning from the East Coast for their first home game of the year, Santa Clara men’s water polo played in front of a packed Sullivan Aquatic Center. However, Santa Clara fell short to No. 11 Princeton in a physical contest, including 19 total ejections, by a final score of 12-7.
SCU is now 2-4 overall as they take on one of the toughest schedules during Coach Keith Wilbur’s 12-year tenure.
No. 11 Princeton came out strong to start the game, scoring five goals in the first period. Will Grant scored the first home goal of the year for the Broncos, and a goal by Dane Estrella brought the score to 5-2 at the end of the first.
The Broncos faced a 10-3 deficit entering the final quarter, but three unanswered scores from Grant, John Raineri, and Owen Asalone cut the Tigers’ lead to just four. Princeton took a timeout to regroup and finally responded.
Santa Clara was unable to mount a comeback, and a late goal from senior Evan Chang, who also had two steals and two earned ejections, made the final score 12-7 in favor of the Tigers.
#11 Princeton 12, Santa Clara 7
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |||||||||||
| Princeton |
5 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 12 | ||||||||||
| Santa Clara | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 7 |
Goals: Owen Asalone (1), Evan Chang (1), John Raineri (2), Dane Estrella (1), Will Grant (2)
Santa Clara will now play in the NorCal Tournament this coming weekend, Sept. 19-20, hosted by No. 4 Stanford.
