Simko Nets Three, No. 19 Men’s Water Polo Falls at Santa Clara, 7-6

Sunday, October 27

Santa Clara, CA

1:40 PM ET

Brown University

Santa Clara University

Simko Nets Three, No. 19 Men’s Water Polo Falls at Santa Clara, 7-6

10/27/2019 4:34:00 PM | Men's Water Polo

Results

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Sophomore Matt Simko scored a game-high three goals, but No. 19 Brown University men's water polo fell to Santa Clara University, 7-6, on Sunday morning at the Julian Fraser Memorial Tournament at SCU's Sullivan Aquatic Center.

The Bears (16-10) scored the game's last two goals but could not tie the contest inside of the final two minutes against the tournament host Broncos (10-10) in their fourth and final game of the weekend.

"We played four very competitive games here in Santa Clara, which helps us to prepare for our conference games," Brown head coach Felix Mercado said. "We're looking forward to being back in our home pool for three league games next weekend."

Simko (Coral Gables, Fla.) added three ejections drawn to his hat trick while senior Hudson Rawlings (Murrieta, Calif.) tallied a goal, two assists, and two steals.

Sophomore Cole Atwell (San Diego, Calif.) notched a goal and two ejections drawn, and junior Adam Fuller (Santa Barbara, Calif.) tallied a goal and two steals.

Senior Armen Deirmenjian (Beverly Hills, Calif.) registered two assists and two steals, senior James Thygesen (Menlo Park, Calif.) distributed two assists, and freshman Leo Berkman (Orinda, Calif.) made four steals.

In the cage, junior goalkeeper Riad Hallal (Coronado, Calif.) stopped 14 shots for his eighth double-figure save performance of the season.

Simko netted both of the Bears' goals in the first half as Brown trailed Santa Clara 2-1 at the end of the first quarter and 4-2 at halftime. Atwell scored Brown's only tally of the third quarter as the Bears remained within 5-3 heading to the final frame.

A goal from Fuller started the scoring in the fourth quarter, cutting the margin to 5-4. Santa Clara responded with back-to-back goals to move ahead 7-4 with 5:45 to play. The Bears countered with goals from Simko and Rawlings, trimming their deficit to 7-6 with 1:48 remaining before SCU held on for the win.

Next, Brown returns to conference play with home NWPC games against Princeton on Nov. 2 at 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+), No. 18 St. Francis Brooklyn on Nov. 3 at 10:00 a.m. (ESPN+), and Iona on Nov. 3 at 3:00 p.m. (ESPN+).

Santa Clara 7, Brown 6
Brown....................... 1…1…1…3…6
Santa Clara............. 2…2…1…2…7
Brown Goals: Simko 3, Atwell, Fuller, Rawlings.
Brown Saves: Hallal 14.