The Santa Clara University men’s water polo team achieved a milestone victory by defeating UC Santa Barbara for the first time in program history. The Broncos, ranked No. 14 nationally, secured an 11-10 win over the No. 17 Gauchos during the 13th-place game at the Overnght MPSF Invitational held at USC’s Uytengsu Aquatics Center in Los Angeles.
The match was closely contested, featuring five ties and three lead changes. With the score tied at 8–8 early in the fourth quarter, Riccardo De Simon scored a power-play goal to break the deadlock. Ashton Brown added another goal less than two minutes later, and Grant Roesch extended Santa Clara’s lead with a goal at 1:35 remaining in regulation.
Roesch’s goal ultimately stood as the difference-maker, as the Gauchos added one final score with six seconds remaining but could not complete the comeback.
Santa Clara responded quickly to each of UC Santa Barbara’s advances throughout the game. After conceding an early lead, goals from Jason Alietti, Thomas Wisdom, and De Simon put Santa Clara ahead 3–1 after one quarter. Luke Baird contributed two goals in the third quarter to help maintain their advantage.
Eight different Broncos scored during the game: De Simon, Baird and Wisdom each tallied two goals apiece; Brown, Engs, Alietti, van der Schaaf and Roesch also found the net for Santa Clara.
Danilo Dragovic led all scorers with four goals for UC Santa Barbara. Harrison Labrosse made seven saves in goal for Santa Clara while Levi Lentin recorded six stops for UCSB.
Santa Clara finished its weekend tournament appearance with a record of two wins and two losses.
Looking ahead, Santa Clara will begin a four-game home stand starting Saturday against No. 9 UC Davis. The team is scheduled to play UC Santa Barbara again on October 3rd at home before hosting Pacific on October 5th and Long Beach State on October 11th. Fans can find ticket information and live coverage links on SantaClaraBroncos.com.
