Broncos Find Success at Rodeo

By Gabe Taylor

When senior Michael Wishart recorded his fourth block in Santa Clara's blowout win over Harvard, the numbers sank in. Wishart jumped ahead of Peter Moore in the standings for most goalkeeper blocks in school history while helping lead the No. 15 Broncos (15-12) to a 4-1 record at the Rodeo Invitational this past weekend at the Sullivan Aquatic Center.

Despite the team's success over the course of the three-day tournament, Santa Clara started off the festivities on a sour note.

In the first game on Friday evening, the Broncos fell flat against Brown University by a score of 10-4.

Despite recording nine blocks in the game, Wishart also allowed ten goals and admitted that "the team didn't come ready to play."

The slow start against Brown could have kept the Broncos down, but instead, Santa Clara used the loss as a wake up call. Over the next 48 hours the Broncos turned their fortunes around in a big way by capturing four consecutive victories to conclude their home invite with a 4-1 record.

"We didn't start out as great as we wanted to with the loss to Brown, but I was really happy with how our team responded," said Wishart.

Following the team's opening day loss, Santa Clara understood the need for consistency as the tournament progressed.

"We tried to play four quarters, come out every game and play every quarter hard," said senior Marcus Akerland.

Sophomore Theo Nasser came to the rescue on Saturday, netting five goals in Santa Clara's 11-6 rout of conference rival No. 16 Air Force.

"Nasser put the team on his back," said Akerland, who posted eight goals over the course of the weekend.

Santa Clara maintained the same focus and approach when they faced off against Cal Baptist later in the afternoon.

With four minutes remaining in the contest and the score tied 10-10, Wishart exited the match due to difficulties with his contact lens. Diving into the water to replace Wishart was John Nash. The junior managed to fend off any shot that came his way in the closing minutes, and senior Brett Zylstra connected with a clutch goal to send the Broncos to an exciting 11-10 victory.  

In the final day of the Broncos' home invite, Santa Clara's consistent play continued. Wishart's 14 blocks and sophomore David Guibord's three goals advanced the Broncos past Bucknell 13-6. All the while, Wishart inched closer to the record.

"By the time I got to the Harvard game, I knew I was a couple blocks away, so I couldn't help but think about it," commented Wishart.

It wasn't long before his thoughts became a reality. Wishart concluded the day with 1,066 goalkeeper blocks in his Santa Clara career – three more than Moore's previous school record of 1,063. Wishart's teammates were complimentary of their goalkeeper.

"He's always been the hardest worker on the team and it's paid off," said Akerland.

But Wishart, whose efforts at The Rodeo earned him Western Water Polo Association Player of the Week for Oct. 27, remained humble when discussing the honor.

"My name's on it, but it's mainly because I have teammates who helped me succeed," said Wishart. "I have a coach that put a lot of trust in me to play."

At the conclusion of the Santa Clara-Harvard game, the scoreboard read 13-4 in favor of the Broncos.

Santa Clara will return to the Sullivan Aquatic Center on Oct. 30 where they will take on the University of the Pacific Tigers. Although the Broncos' goal is to focus on their next opponent, the team knows that the WWPA Championships are less than a month away.

"Every team has stuff to improve on," said Akerland. "But this year, we feel like we have the best shot that we've had to win that tournament at the end of the year."

Contact Gabe Taylor at gtaylor@scu.edu or (408) 551-1918.