SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Sophomore Aleix Aznar Beltran finished with a career-high seven goals, including the go-ahead score on a 5-meter attempt with six minutes remaining in regulation -- and the No. 8 UC Davis men's water polo team closed on a 4-1 run to hand host Santa Clara a 10-7 defeat in Western Water Polo Association action on Thursday afternoon.

The Aggies improved to 11-5 overall and remained unbeaten in conference play at 3-0 with the victory. The Broncos, meanwhile, fell to 9-7 overall and 1-2 in league.

Aznar Beltran's seven goals matched freshman Hal Goulter's seven-goal output against Mount St. Mary's on Sept. 4. Both totals are tied for third on the all-time single-match list, just one short of the school record of eight set by Dave Schauer against UC Riverside in 1993 and tied by Mike Gotelli vs. Pomona-Pitzer in 1997.

UC Davis trailed for most of the first half, forging ties at 2-2 and 3-3 in the second quarter on a pair of goals by Aznar Beltran and Nir Gross, but the Aggies were down by a single score, 4-3, at halftime. Aznar Beltran then scored back-to-back goals to start the third, completing the hat trick and giving UC Davis its first lead of the contest at 5-4 with 4:49 remaining in the third.

The two teams traded goals from there and were deadlocked at six-all with 6:49 remaining in the fourth before the Aggies took control. Aznar Beltran scored less than a minute later to put his team ahead for good and finished with three of the team's final four scores, with another by Stefan Venne mixed in, to ice the victory.

Aznar Beltran finished with a match-high nine shots and added three steals, while goalkeeper Aaron Wilson finished with eight svaes and a steal in the cage.

UC Davis heads down Highway 99 for a WWPA match-up against Fresno Pacific on Saturday (Oct. 16) at Noon in the middle game of a busy three-match week that has the Aggies also taking on No. 4 Stanford on Sunday (Oct. 17).
 

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