Oct. 22, 2005

DAVIS, Calif. - Kevin Bacharach led the Aggies with four goals as UC Davis claimed a 6-4 victory over Western Water Polo Association opponent Santa Clara Saturday afternoon at Schaal Aquatics Center. The two teams matched goals for the first three quarters of play before UC Davis' offense gained momentum and took the lead in the fourth.

UC Davis got to an early start with a goal from Bacharach less than two minutes after the start of the quarter The two teams battled back and forth for the next couple of minutes with each missing an opportunity to score on a man-up situation The Broncos were able to put their first point on the board with a goal from Chris Parolin with 2:19 left to play in the first.

A little over three minutes into the second quarter sophomore goalie Mike McGee was able to steal the ball from a Bronco player swimming on a wide-open breakaway. McGee passed the ball down the pool to a wide-open Kevin Bacharach who scored his second goal of the game. Bacharach's goal gave the Aggies a 2-1 lead. Two minutes later Santa Clara's Tommy Kelly launched a skip shot under McGee's arm and tied the score going into halftime.

UC Davis came out strong in the third with Bacharach scoring his third goal of the game off of an assist from junior David Welch. The Broncos, however, were able to rebound and score off of a block by McGee during a man-up situation. The score leading into the final quarter was 3-3.

Conor Duignan gave the Aggies the lead at the beginning of the fourth with a man-up goal. Duignan was able to repeat the same feat less than two minutes later increasing UC Davis' lead to two points. With 2:31 remaining on the clock, Bacharach fired an outside shot and scored his fourth goal of the game. Just when it looked as though the Ags would walk away with the 6-3 win, Santa Clara's Jon Grecco scored on an off-speed shot with 20 seconds left to play. The final score was UC Davis 6, Santa Clara 4.

"Everything went fine during the game, we just need to work on putting the ball in the cage. It was good to see that they are hungry and see them fight for all four quarters," said head coach Steve Doten of the win.

The Aggies' season record now stands at 11-9 and their WWPA record is now 8-1. UC Davis will play again Sunday when they take on the No. 2 Cal Golden Bears at Schaal Aquatics Center. Game time is set for noon.

               1    2     3     4      FINALUC DAVIS       1    1     1     3        6SANTA CLARA    1    1     1     1        4
UC DAVIS Goals: Kevin Bacharach 4, Conor Duignan 2.SANTA CLARA Goals: Chris Parolin 1, Tommy Kelly 1,Mike Detoy 1, Jon Grecco 1.
UC DAVIS Goalie Saves: Mike McGee 11.SANTA CLARA Goalie Saves: Michael Petersen 13.