MWP | Gaels Prepare for Three-Game Weekend at Julian Fraser Memorial Tournament

Friday, October 23

Santa Clara, CA

10:00 AM

Saint Mary's College of California

Bucknell

Photo by: @jenny_kelloggphotography

10/21/2026 10:46:00 AM | Men's Water Polo

MORAGA, Calif. — Another action-packed weekend awaits the Saint Mary's men's water polo team, as the Gaels prepare for three matchups at the Julian Fraser Memorial Tournament. The Gaels will open tournament play with their third meeting of the season against Bucknell on Friday, before facing Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday and Harvard on Sunday to close out the weekend. Saint Mary's enters the weekend coming off of its first West Coast Conference victory in program history with a 16-10 win over Air Force, followed by a competitive 15-11 loss to No. 11 Pacific to bring their overall record to 6-10.

GAME COVERAGE

Saint Mary's Gaels vs. Bucknell Bison
Friday, October 23 at 10:00 a.m.
Sullivan Aquatic Center – Santa Clara, Calif.
WATCH | LIVE STATS

Saint Mary's Gaels vs. Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens
Saturday, October 24 at 3:40 p.m.
Spartan Recreation and Aquatic Center – San Jose, Calif.
LIVE STATS

Saint Mary's Gaels vs. No. 18 Harvard Crimson
Sunday, October 25 at 8:00 a.m.
Sullivan Aquatic Center – Santa Clara, Calif.
WATCH | LIVE STATS

GAELS OUTLOOK

Another Historic Weekend in Moraga…

Saint Mary's made history last Friday night after securing its first WCC victory in program history with a 16-10 win over Air Force. The Gaels came out strong offensively, scoring nine goals in the first half. Saint Mary's continued to build on its advantage throughout the second half, with nine different Gaels finding the back of the net, including Ethan Klerck, who recorded his first career hat trick. Goalkeeper Federico Castrucci also delivered a standout performance, recording a career-high eight steals and five saves to help secure the historic win in front of the home crowd.

The Gaels carried that momentum into Saturday's matchup against No. 11 Pacific, jumping out to an early 4-1 lead before heading into halftime tied at 6-6. Saint Mary's continued to battle with the Tigers, entering the final quarter tied 9-9 before Pacific pulled away with six fourth quarter goals to secure the 15-11 victory. Despite the loss, the Gaels put together a competitive performance against the No. 11 Tigers.

Trio Leading the Charge…

Leo Hachem, Domenico Barillà, and Hamish Ellison led the offensive charge for the Gaels over the weekend. Hachem recorded two goals against Air Force and four goals against Pacific, bringing his season total to a team-high 36 goals. Barillà also had a strong weekend, recording two goals and a career-high four assists against Air Force before adding another two goals and an assist against Pacific. The freshman has now recorded back-to-back braces to bring his career total for mutli-goal matches to four. Ellison continued his offensive consistency, recording two goals in each matchup to extend his streak to three consecutive braces. Ellison also ranks fourth in the WCC with 15 sprint wins this season.

ABOUT THE OPPONENTS

Bucknell enters the Julian Fraser Memorial Tournament with an 11-9 overall record and is looking to bounce back from two consecutive losses to Wagner and No. 5 Fordham. Junior attacker Tyler Hedblad currently leads the offensive charge for Bucknell with 41 goals on the season. Friday's matchup marks the third meeting between the two programs this season, with the Gaels taking the first contest 12-9 before the Bison responded with a 14-9 victory in their second meeting.

Pomona-Pitzer enters the weekend as the No. 1 ranked Division III team in the nation with an 11-10 overall record. The Sagehens are coming off of an 18-11 victory over MIT and are led offensively by senior attacker Indigo Lee, who has tallied a team-high 34 goals and 14 assists this season.

No. 18 Harvard enters the weekend with a 10-10 overall record and is riding a seven-game winning streak. The Crimson most recently went undefeated at the Harvard Invitational, picking up victories over UC Merced, Navy, and Pomona-Pitzer. Harvard closed out the weekend with an 18-10 win over the Sagehens.

Saint Mary's will open the tournament against Bucknell on Friday, October 23 at 10:00 a.m. The games can be streamed at https://santaclarabroncos.com/watch/. Additional match information can be found at smcgaels.com.

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