It took seven overtime periods, but the No. 8 UCSB men’s water polo team upset No. 7 UC San Diego on Friday afternoon at the Gauchos’ Campus Pool. In front of full stands, the Gauchos and Tritons duked it out for well over two hours before junior Kendall Olds scored the game-winner with 36 seconds left in the fifth sudden victory overtime period to catapult UCSB to the 10-9 victory.
With the win, UCSB improved to 12-7 on the season and 4-0 at home. The game marked the Gauchos third straight match that was decided in sudden victory overtime and the third with the Tritons that has been decided by one goal. UCSD won both of the previous match-ups via 12-11 scores including a sudden victory win on Oct. 12. UC San Diego falls to 14-7 on the season.
Sophomore Milos Golic led the Gauchos with four goals in the win, three of which came in the fourth quarter. The current Mountain Pacific Sports Federation goals leader stretched his scoring streak to 23-games, dating back to the 2007 season.
Sophomore goalkeeper Fraser Bunn tallied a career-best 20 saves, eclipsing his previous career-high by six saves.
The Gauchos scored the final three goals of the game and were actually down by two goals with under a minute remaining in regulation. However a quick steal of a ball near mid-pool led to a goal by Golic and with just two seconds left, Golic struck again for the equalizer.
UC San Diego scored twice in the first overtime period after Stefan Partelow gave the Gauchos an early advantage with a breakaway goal and it wasn’t until Noah Smith scored on a man-up advantage with 2:33 left in the second overtime that UCSB evened things up.
From there, the two teams played nearly 15 minutes of scoreless water polo, battling through the remainder of the second overtime and the first four sudden victories without getting anything past either goalie.
The Gauchos fought through two man-down opportunities that UCSD had and the one time the Gauchos were a man-up, they capitalized.
With 0:44 left in sudden victory No. 5, the Gauchos drew an ejection on the Tritons’ Adan Jerkovic and eight seconds later, Olds found the back of the net setting off a euphoric celebration by the Gaucho bench as the whole team jumped into the pool to celebrate.
UCSB’s next match is Nov. 1 at Cal, followed by a match the next day at Pacific. The Gauchos return home on Nov. 8 to battle MPSF foe Long Beach State at Campus Pool at noon. As always, admission to UCSB home games is free.
UC Santa Barbara 10, UC San Diego 9
1 2 3 4 OT1 OT2 SV5 Final
UCSD 2 2 2 1 2 0 0 9
UCSB 1 1 2 3 1 1 1 10
UCSD Goals: Daniel Garcia 4, A.J. Kontanjian 3, Chance Vermilyea 1, Adnan Jerkovic 1.
UCSD Goalie Saves: David Morton 19.
UCSB Goals: Milos Golic 4, Jesse Tootell 3, Stefan Partelow 1, Noah Smith 1, Kendell Olds 1.
UCSB Goalie Saves: Fraser Bunn 20.
