Men's water polo loses rare home match

By Jack Ferdon

The Broncos dropped their home opener last Saturday to UC Davis, 10-7, but bounced back the following day by beating UC Santa Cruz by a score of 9-7.

Their record stands at 6-6, but could have been 7-5.

Santa Clara thoroughly outplayed the Aggies, taking 30 shots to Davis' 12. But bad luck - seven of the Broncos' shots hit the goalposts - and what Head Coach Steve Hanson termed "a communication breakdown" left Santa Clara staring up at a 7-0 halftime deficit. It must have reminded some of the players of the 24-3 beating they took from UC San Diego just a week earlier.

The Broncos weren't about to let that happen again. They came out raging in the second half and scored seven goals, including three by freshman Nick Takahashi and two by junior Dan Figoni.

"We were really pumped up in the second half," Figoni said. "That was maybe the best we've played all year."

But a comeback wasn't in the cards, as UC Davis - who is the No. 20 team in the nation despite having a 3-5 record - scored three second-half goals to check the Broncos onslaught and preserve the victory.

The loss was more difficult than most because it came at the Leavey Center, where the Broncos play few NCAA matches due to the pool's less than regulation length. This creates matchup difficulties for opposing squads who are not used to playing in such tight quarters. There are two more matches scheduled for Leavey this season.

"It would have been nice to win one at home," Figoni said.

Santa Clara built on their strong second-half play against Davis the following day in Santa Cruz. The Broncos were led against the Banana Slugs, the No. 2 team in Division II, by senior Jay Moorhead who scored five goals, a season high.

Hopefully Santa Clara can play like that this weekend in a tough tournament at Stanford. The Broncos play against the Cardinals, the No. 1 team in the nation, Friday and might face UC San Diego again.