Brown University
Santa Clara
No. 11 Men's Water Polo Falls to No. 16 Santa Clara in OT, 13-11
10/23/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
SANTA CLARA, Calif. – No. 11 Brown University men's water polo tied the score on five occasions in the second half but fell at No. 16 Santa Clara University in overtime, 13-11, in its first game at "The Rodeo" on Friday night at the Sullivan Aquatic Center.
Opening play at the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational, the Bears (15-4) netted three equalizers in the fourth quarter, but the host Broncos (7-14) evened the season series with the Bears at 1-1 with two goals in the extra sessions. Brown beat Santa Clara in neutral water earlier this season, 12-10, on Sept. 13 at the Princeton Invitational.
Junior Luke Irwin (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) paced the Bears with three goals while junior Yahel Murvitz-Lahav (Tel Aviv, Israel) and sophomore Rico Burke (San Mateo, Calif.) each netted two goals, with one apiece inside of the final 33 seconds of regulation.
Senior Matty Gallas (Manhattan Beach, Calif.), junior Jake Wyatt (Corona Del Mar, Calif.), and sophomores Tommy Bush (Lafayette, Calif.) and Tyler Kirchberg (Orinda, Calif.) each posted one goal.
After Kirchberg opened the game with a goal, the Broncos scored twice to take a 2-1 lead. Irwin answered with his first tally, and Bush struck for a goal later in the quarter to give the visitors a 3-2 lead after one.
Santa Clara lifted the lid on the second quarter's scoring before the Bears went on a 3-0 run behind goals from Burke, Irwin, and Wyatt to grab a 6-3 edge. The Broncos responded with a 3-0 run of their own to level the score at 6-6 at the half.
In the third stanza, Santa Clara went ahead 7-6 prior to a penalty-shot goal from Murvitz-Lahav. Following another Bronco goal, Irwin notched his third marker to knot it at 8-8 heading to the fourth quarter.
The Broncos gained a 9-8 lead, but Gallas converted a goal to tie the score at 9-9. Santa Clara went up 10-9 with 2:04 left in regulation, but Burke tied it at 10-10 with 33 seconds left in the fourth. The hosts scored with 19 seconds on the clock, but Murvitz-Lahav countered four seconds before the buzzer to send the match to overtime.
Santa Clara scored one goal in each of the two bonus periods to capture the win.
Next, Brown continues play at "The Rodeo" tomorrow with contests against No. 10 UC Davis (12:20 p.m. ET) and Cal Baptist (5:40 p.m. ET).
Santa Clara 13, Brown 11 (OT)
Brown....................... 3…3…2…3…0…11
Santa Clara............. 2…4…2…3…2...13
Brown Goals: Irwin 3, Burke 2, Murvitz-Lahav 2, Bush, Gallas, Kirchberg, Wyatt.
Brown Saves: Weiser 14.
