The Broncos came into the game looking to break a two-game losing streak with losses against No. 6 UC Irvine and No. 15 Navy.
The first period was a flurry of activity on both sides, ending with the Aggies up 5-3. The Santa Clara goals in the first period were scored by Imme van der Schaaf ’29, and Ashton Brown ’29. Riccardo de Simon ’28 and van der Schaaf added an assist each.
The Broncos launched a furious comeback in the second period with early goals by Luke Baird ’26 and Darion Wang ’30. The deficit was erased with a strike from Henry Engs ’28 into the top corner to bring the game level at 6-6 going into halftime.
A 4-0 run in the third period gave a massive momentum shift to Davis—the scoreline at the end of the period read 10-6 in favor of the Aggies. The Broncos fared much better in the fourth period with Charlie Engs ’27 adding two goals, but it wasn’t enough to close the gap. The final score was 13-8 in favor of UC Davis.
De Simon and van der Schaaf were also standouts on the defensive end with four and two steals, respectively.
On the second day of the back-to-back, the Broncos traveled to Stanford to take on the top seed. Stanford entered the game coming off a successful trip to Los Angeles in which they knocked off the then top-ranked UCLA and No. 3 USC in back-to-back days to seize the top spot.
The Broncos found themselves in an early 3-0 deficit. The first Santa Clara goal came when Dylan Hazen ’29 curled a shot past the outstretched arms of Stanford goalkeeper Bernardo Herzer, bringing the score to 3-1. Stanford then went on a brutal run of seven unanswered goals.
De Zwart broke the run by rifling a shot into the bottom right corner. Sandwiched in between Stanford strikes, Hazen added another goal to his tally to bring the score to 12-3 at halftime in favor of the Cardinal.
The next Bronco goal came early in the third period from Henry Engs ’28. Nick Zimmerman ’30 added another. After two more Stanford goals, De Zwart added a second around the thirty-second mark of the third period. The score at the end of the third period was 19-6.
Charlie Kosinski ’27 opened the Santa Clara scoring in the fourth period from long range. A few minutes later, Hank Woodman ‘29 added another. Weston Bancroft ’28 scored the final goal of the game for the Broncos. Despite the effort, the Broncos could not recover lost ground. The final score was 22-9 in favor of the Cardinals.
De Zwart and Kosinski added an assist each along with their goals. Finn Swanson ’30 had two assists, Jensen Welton ’28 and Recce Hammond ’26 also added an assist each.
Next up, the Broncos will head south for a back-to-back against Pepperdine and the Loyola Marymount Lions on October 17th and 18th.