SANTA CLARA, Calif. - No. 17 Santa Clara men's water polo split their two games played on the second day of action at the Julian Fraser Memorial Tournament. The Broncos began their day with a tough 15-13 loss to No. 14 Harvard before finishing the day on a high note with a 13-11 victory over Bucknell. With the split, Santa Clara heads into the final day of the home tournament with a 7-11 record.
Game One - #14 Harvard 15, #17 Santa Clara 13
The Broncos gave 14th-ranked Harvard all they could handle, but just fell short despite a big offensive performance. Harvard led by as much as 12-7 with six minutes to go in the third quarter, but Santa Clara clawed their way back into contention, cutting the deficit to two at the end of the quarter. Reese Jenican capped off three-straight scoring possessions for the Broncos with 1:27 on the clock. After Harvard answered with a goal on their next possession, Jenican punched back with another score of his own to make it 13-11 after three quarters of play.
Billy Barry started the fourth quarter off with a bang with a quick score to make it 13-12 with seven minutes remaining. Harvard scored once again to regain the two-goal advantage, but Dominick Kirk answered to make it a one-goal affair once again with just over two minutes to play. Unfortunately for the Broncos, that was as close as they would get as Harvard scored on the next possession and did enough to hold on for the narrow victory.
Jenican and Barry were two of four Broncos to score two goals in the losing effort along with Ford Eldredge and Zach Fales. Fales added four assists and came away with a pair of steals.
Chase Zamborelli played all 32 minutes in the net finishing with 10 stops.
Game Two - #17 Santa Clara 13, Bucknell 11
Bennett Stafford led the charge as the Broncos held off a scrappy Bucknell team that was determined to come away with an upset. Tied at 7-7 with under a minute remaining in the third quarter, the sophomore from Healdsburg, Calif., scored on back-to-back possessions to close out the period and give the Broncos the lead. After both teams exchanged goals to start the fourth period, Chase Raisin came through on a powerplay with 2:25 remaining to stretch the lead to two at 12-10. Santa Clara then locked down defensively and put the game out of reach with 25 seconds on the clock as Jackson Westerman rattled a shot home to make it 13-10. The Bison would add a late goal in the waning seconds, but the match was all but settled.
Stafford finished with a team-best four goals while Westerman, Raisin and Eldredge each scored a pair. Zamborelli once again played all 32 minutes in the net and was a force to be reckoned with, coming away with 18 saves and a steal.
The Broncos have one final game to play in their host tournament, and it comes bright and early tomorrow. Santa Clara will take on Brown at 8:00 a.m. PT.
