California Golden Bears Athletics
California
Santa Clara
No. 2 Cal Men's Water Polo Defeats No. 16 Santa Clara, 13-9
10/18/2009 12:00 PM | Men's Water Polo
Oct. 18, 2009
BERKELEY, CALIF. - The No. 2-ranked Cal men's water polo team (13-4) scored the first eight goals of the match on the way to a 13-9 victory over No. 16-ranked Santa Clara (13-7) in a non-conference contest Sunday, Oct. 18 at Spieker Aquatics Complex. The Golden Bears were led by sophomore Ivan Rackov's three goals and two goals apiece by senior captain Spencer Warden, junior Zach White and sophomores Luka Saponjic and Charlie Steffens.
Cal outscored the Broncos, 4-0, in the first period behind goals from White, Rackov, Saponjic and Warden. Rackov, the Bears' leading scorer on the year with 36 goals in 17 matches, then tallied the next two goals in the beginning of the second period, followed by goals from redshirt freshman Mason Cox and Steffens to give Cal an 8-0 advantage. Finally, Santa Clara's Liam Farrell broke the Bears' scoring run with a goal with 1:18 left in the first half.
The Broncos made a comeback in the third period, outscoring Cal, 5-4, paced by senior Jack Wall's team-high three goals, including a last second shot to end the third quarter. Santa Clara also scored the first three goals of the fourth period to get within, 12-9, before Warden gave the Bears' their 13th goal of the match with 1:08 left in the contest for the final 13-9 margin.
Both Warden and Steffens had solid all-round games for Cal, tallying four steals and three assists apiece. Freshman goalie Justin Parsons finished with six saves.
The Bears will next return to MPSF league action when they host Pepperdine on Saturday, Oct. 24 at 11 a.m. at Spieker Aquatics Complex.
No. 16 Santa Clara 0 1 5 3 - 9 No. 2 Cal 4 4 4 1 - 13Santa Clara Goals: Jack Wall 3, Liam Farrell 2, Mark Soares, Brett Zylstra,Nicolas Poggetti, Mike Sorgenfrei
California Goals: Ivan Rackov 3, Spencer Warden 2, Luka Saponjic 2, Charlie Steffens 2, Zach White 2, Mason Cox, Jack Stampfl
Santa Clara Saves: Michael Wishart 7
California Saves: Justin Parsons 6
