Cal Invitational Brings Out the Nation's Finest

Water polo battles against stiff competition Ivan Munoz THE SANTA CLARA September 26, 2013 [dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Santa Clara men’s water polo team competed in the NorCal Invitational this past weekend along with 16 of the nation’s top teams, highlighted by a 11-10 win over No. 11 University of California, San Diego.Santa Clara goalie Matt Pritchett commented on the importance of the tournament.“NorCal is a very important tournament for us in regards to our season,” said Pritchett. “Almost all of the top-tier teams are there, playing very competitive, high-caliber water polo. I think it’s great for us to get a chance to match up with these good programs at this tournament, especially because it’s so early on in the season.”The Broncos concluded the tournament on the University of California, Berkeley campus splitting two wins and two losses. The Broncos commenced the NorCal Invitational on Saturday in their first game against  the University of the Pacific, the No. 3-ranked team in the nation. Redshirt junior David Guibord’s two goals were simply not enough as the Tigers outscored the Broncos, 21-9.The second match against No. 12 University of California, Davis resulted in a painful 9-8 loss for the Broncos. The Broncos were down 9-5 heading into the fourth quarter and managed to score three unanswered goals, but fell one short of the Aggies.All results were in favor of the Broncos on Sunday. Santa Clara had a wide lead of 8-3 against Diablo Valley College going into halftime and would eventually defeat their opposition by a narrow score of 14-11. The top performers of the game in terms of goals were Kyle Nadel, Graham McClone and Tucker Carlson, all with three goals apiece.Later that afternoon, the Broncos earned what would be their biggest win of the tournament against No. 11 UCSD in triple sudden-death overtime.An ejection on the UCSD side helped the Broncos score the game-winning goal. “Theo Nasser drew an ejection in front of the goal so we went up a man,” said Patrick Weiss. “Right after the ejection I called for the ball and took a shot while UCSD was trying to set up their man-down defense. The shot hit the right bar of the cage and went in.”Weiss did not realize he had scored the decisive goal until he heard his teammates celebrating.“I saw the ball hit the bar, but I didn’t know it went in,” he said.  “The goalie and a few field players obstructed my view of the goal so I didn’t realize I scored until I heard my teammates yelling my name. I had already been swimming back to defense as if the game might have still been going on.”Pritchett had a notable game in goal, recording 17 saves for Santa Clara.Looking back on the weekend, Head Coach Keith Wilbur has large aspirations for the team this season. “Our goal is to win our conference and make NCAAs,” said Wilbur. Wilbur envisions a successful season for the team and hopes they can continue to finish as strong as they did in Sunday’s match against UCSD. “I would like our team to learn how to execute and finish close games, so at the end of the season in conference playoffs, it is not a situation where we think we can win those type of games, but rather, we know how to win those type of games,” Wilbur said.The No. 15 Broncos are off to a promising beginning in the 2013 season. The team will be back in action on Sept. 28 with a double-header matchup against Fresno Pacific University and Occidental College at the Sunbird Round-Robin event in Clovis, Calif. The Broncos will then travel to Davis, Calif. to play Redlands University the following day. Contact Ivan Munoz at imunoz@scu.edu or call (408) 554-4852.