Losses strengthen men's water polo

By Brian Witter

Entering the season ranked 19th in the nation, the Santa Clara men's water polo squad is off to a dismal start. After only one month of competition their record now reads 1-7.

Led by third-year Head Coach Keith Wilbur, and seniors Peter Moore and Kenny Flanagan--De La Hoz, the men's team is still as confident as they were at the start of the season and, if anything, has only become stronger.

"We haven't lost to anyone we beat last year, so we're just trying to improve right now," Wilbur said. "It's just that sometimes it does take a while getting used to the physical aspects of the game, especially for the freshmen who just started playing at this level of competition."

Focusing on improvement is something Wilbur stresses to his players, a group made up of both rookies and veterans alike. Santa Clara's most recent loss came against University of California at Santa Cruz in a 14-13 heartbreaker.

After an impressive showing last year, in which the Broncos finished 17-13 and were ranked nationally in the latter half of the season, the team's own success helped pave the way for this year's current position. The Broncos drew a difficult schedule in 2003, especially in September when they faced five of its first seven contests against Top-20 teams.

This year's lone win came against unranked Chapman University while suffering losses to powerhouses No. 1 Stanford, No. 5 Pepperdine, and No. 9 University of California at San Diego.

Assistant coach and former player Matt Sanchez believes that with the Broncos' breakthrough into the upper ranks of college water polo, a higher level of athleticism will also render a higher intensity.

"Since we've ascended into the top bracket, there has been a lot of momentum on our part to keep focused, and this year is no different," Sanchez said.

The strengthening of the program's reputation means the Broncos will face tougher teams in the future and will garner the opportunity to sign star high school seniors.

This season, seven freshmen were added to the team, including Charlie Moore and Luke Oda, the siblings of senior goalkeeper Peter Moore and senior driver Mark Oda,

Despite their record, the Broncos have been in some close matches. They lost to No. 10 Loyola Marymount by two goals and to Redlands by just one. These close games have allowed the coaching staff and players to take a closer look at strategy as to help determine better opportunities to capitalize on opponents in these close games.

"We realized how difficult the schedule was, but we knew it was going to make us a better team," junior driver Austin Brizgys said. "Some of the younger guys were phased losing those games, but our confidence level is still strong going into every match."

The Broncos' confidence may reside in the success of certain retuners.

Team veterans like Kenny Flanagan-De La Hoz, who recorded a team-leading 50 goals last season and sophomore defenseman Kevin Starry, who led the team in 2003 in both steals and assists, are two notable weapons. Goalkeeper and four-year starter Peter Moore looks to enjoy a repeat of the 2003 season, in which he spent nearly every minute in the pool for the Broncos and made close to 300 saves, helping the team to a winning record. Just last week against the University of Pacific, Moore had a season high 14 saves in a 10-5 loss to the Tigers.

The Broncos now face the challenge of playing three tournaments in three weekends, starting this Saturday at the Slugfest Tournament at UCSC. The upcoming matches will be a chance for the team to improve their record as well as build upon their strategy.

"There will be a few adjustments to our half-court offense, but what we're really trying to do is to get to another level, both physically and mentally," Coach Wilbur said. "In the game at Redlands when we lost 5-4, we couldn't capitalize at the end, so we're going to have to stay more aggressive and work harder."

Despite their low number of wins, the Broncos have overcome tough adversity in the past. Last year, of their 30 total matches, 27 of which were against ranked opponents, the squad still finished the year with a record that tied the program's best for most wins in a single season.

Sanchez emphasizes that losses have made the team stronger and more resourceful.

"We're just going to be going in hoping to dominate teams from now on because now we are able to really compete on the same plain since we know what we need to do," Sanchez said.

The upcoming tournaments will be a true measure of how far the Broncos have improved their game thus far in the season. They will no doubt be facing even more tough opponents down the road. However, with high expectations before the start of match play, high confidence on the part of the team, and with their current record the way it stands, the Broncos should be back on track within a few weeks. If not, it's back to the practice pool where the Broncos will continue searching for the answers they need.