The seventh-ranked UC Santa Barbara men’s water polo split two contests on the first day of the SoCal Tournament being hosted by Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount this weekend. The Gauchos defeated No. 8 UC Irvine, 11-10, before falling to No. 1 USC, 11-4, on Saturday at Pepperdine’s Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool.
With the split, the Gauchos now hold a 10-5 overall record this season.
In the first game of the day against UC Irvine, senior Michael Machado got the Gauchos on the board first with a goal a little over a minute into the first quarter. The Anteaters quickly tied things up before the two teams exchanged a pair of goals. Miles Price put UCSB ahead at 3-2 with 5:24 to play in the quarter, which turned out to be the final point of the period.
Brandon Johnson scored for Irvine a minute into the second, deadlocking the score at 3-3. A minute later, Price scored regaining the lead for UCSB. The Anteaters’ Griffin Lerman tied the game again with 3:38 on the clock, but back-to-back goals from Travis Watts andDane Lindstrom put the Gauchos ahead 6-4 heading into halftime.
UCI came out of the break on fire and posted three unanswered goals to capture its first lead of the game at 7-6. Daniel Natalizio scored with 4:05 on the clock, once again tying the game, this time at 7-7. Noah Smith and Kendell Olds followed with a goal apiece, regaining the UCSB advantage at 9-7. With just four seconds left in the third, Johnson cut the Gaucho lead to just one goal with a point scored for UC Irvine.
With 4:19 left to play in the game, UCI’s Greg Enloe locked the game up at 9-9, but UCSB responded with goals from Milos Golic and a second from Natalizio to capture the 11-9 lead. With just 58 seconds on the clock Thomas Kruip scored for the Anteaters, but it proved to be the last goal of the game and UCSB took the 11-10 win.
The win marked the Gauchos’ second consecutive over the Anteaters this week. UCSB defeated UCI last Sunday, 14-12, at Irvine.
In the second game of the day against USC, the Trojans scored first with a goal from Justin Rappel just over a minute into the first quarter. With 3:13 left in the period, Golic tied the game with his second goal of the day at 1-1.
USC posted two unanswered goals at the beginning of the second quarter before Jesse Tootell posted UCSB’s second goal. Unfortunately, USC collected two more goals in the last 20 seconds of the quarter to stretch its lead to 6-2.
Smith opened the scoring in the second half with a goal just a minute into the third quarter, but it was the lone UCSB goal of the period as the Trojans piled on three straight points to jump to a 9-3 lead. USC finished off the game with two more goals in the fourth quarter while Natalizio tallied his third of the day with 18 seconds to play, bringing the final tally to 11-4.
UCSB will conclude action at the SoCal Tournament on Sunday. The Gauchos are scheduled to play No. 4 Pepperdine at 9:20 a.m. at Pepperdine’s Raleigh Runnels Aquatic Center.
UCSB 11, UC Irvine 10
1 2 3 4 Final UCI 2 2 4 2 10 UCSB 3 3 3 2 11
UC Irvine Goals: Brandon Johnson 3, Thomas Kruip 2, Jesse Hatch 2, Griffin Lerman 1, Trent Baxter 1, Greg Enloe 1.
UCSB Goals: Daniel Natalizio 2, Miles Price 2, Michael Machado 1, Jesse Tootell 1, Travis Watts 1, Dane Lindstrom 1,Noah Smith 1, Kendell Olds 1, Milos Golic 1.
UCSB Goalie Saves: Michael Robinson 12.
USC 11, UCSB 4
1 2 3 4 Final UCSB 1 1 1 1 4 USC 1 5 3 2 11
USC Goals: Matt Sagehorn 3, Anthony Artukovich 2, Justin Rapel 1, J.W. Krumpholz 1, Shea Buckner 1, Nico Sardo 1, Jordan Thompson 1, Jovan Vranes 1.
UCSB Goals: Milos Golic 1, Jesse Tootell 1, Noah Smith 1, Daniel Natalizio 1.
UCSB Goalie Saves: Fraser Bunn 4.
