By Chris McCree
Writer
The men’s water polo team upended No. 11 UC Davis at the Santa Clara Invitational to finish its West Coast trip in dramatic fashion this past weekend in Santa Clara, Ca. The Bison came up with a big win to conclude a tough weekend that began with losses to Air Force, No. 13 Santa Clara, and No. 7 Pacific.
Howie Kalter ’11, Richie Hyden ’11 and Paul Reamey ’11 each had multi-goal performances in the Bison’s 7-6 win. The Orange and Blue limited a strong UC Davis team to six goals and were able to stop a last second push from the Aggies to seal the victory. Goalkeeper Miles Gilhuly ’11 recorded six saves behind a great defensive effort by the Bison defense. With the win, the Bison recorded their second win over a ranked opponent, a week after beating No. 17 Princeton.
The Bison started the invitational with three tough losses. The Orange and Blue played Air Force tough during their first contest but fell 8-7 to the Falcons. In the second matchup, Santa Clara defeated the Bison 13-9. The Bison relied heavily on offensive production from Kalter and Hyden who combined to score 10 goals for the day.
In the first match-up of the second day, the Bison fell to Pacific 16-8.
Kalter had an especially strong weekend for the Bison, tallying 11 goals. His play was pivotal to Bison offensive success, and his three-goal performance against UC Davis propelled them to their upset of the Aggies.
The Bison left California on a high note but were still disappointed about the three losses.
“The team’s expectations going into the trip were very high. We knew that we were comparable to all of the teams we were going to play. We are obviously pleased with our victory over No. 11 Davis, but we would have liked to have taken a few more wins from the weekend,” Kalter said.
The invitational provided the Bison with a good change of pace because they had not played a west coast team up to this point in the season.
“We were excited to play teams we don’t normally,” Kalter said.
The Bison hope to use their big win as a launching point. They get the weekend off this week to prepare for the Southern Championships, which begin Friday, Nov. 5.
