STANFORD – The sixth-ranked UCSB men’s water polo team (5-3) took sixth at the Northern California Invitational after splitting its two games on Sunday at Stanford. The Gauchos defeated No. 7 Pepperdine, 11-10, in overtime before falling, 8-5, to No. 5 Loyola Marymount in the tournament’s fifth-place game.
The Gauchos opened the day against No. 7 Pepperdine, which they had already defeated 8-7 two weeks ago at the UC San Diego Triton Invitational. This time around, the Waves got out to a 4-2 lead in the first half. The two teams traded a pair of goals in the third quarter and Pepperdine held a 6-4 advantage heading into the fourth.
UCSB continued to fight and in the fourth, the Gauchos outscored Pepperdine 5-3 to tie the game at nine apiece and send the teams into overtime. Each squad tallied a goal in the first of the two three-minute overtime periods. With 1:25 to go in the second overtime, junior Zsombor Vincze scored the game-winner, giving UCSB the 11-10 victory.
Vincze, Milos Golic and Noah Smith all had hat tricks in the win. Fraser Bunn posted a season-high 12 saves.
In the fifth-place game with Loyola Marymount, the Lions took a 2-1 lead in the first quarter, but the Gauchos were able to tie things up at three apiece heading into halftime. LMU outscored the Gauchos 5-1 in the third to jump out to an 8-4 advantage. UCSB held the Lions scoreless in the fourth quarter, but added just one goal of its own, falling 8-5.
Golic once again led the team, posting a pair of goals in the loss. The junior tallied a total of 12 goals during the weekend. In goal, Bunn tallied 10 saves for the Gauchos.
UCSB will be back in action on Oct. 3 when it hosts its annual alumni game. The weekend will also serve as the 30th anniversary celebration of the 1979 NCAA Championship team, the first Gaucho team to win a Division I title.
#6 UCSB 11, #7 Pepperdine 10
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT1 | OT2 | Final | |||||||||||||||
| Pepperdine | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 10 | ||||||||||||||
| UCSB | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 11 |
Pepperdine Goals: MacDonnell 3, Snyder 2, Auer, Busby, Hamby, Watson, Young
Pepperdine Saves: O’Connell 5
UCSB Goals: Milos Golic 3, Noah Smith 3, Zsombor Vincze 3, Stefan Partelow 2
UCSB Saves: Fraser Bunn 12
#5 LMU 8, #6 UCSB
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |||||||||||
| #6 UCSB | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||||||||||
| #5 LMU | 2 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 8 |
UCSB Goals: Milos Golic 2, Brian Bishop, Sean Castillo, Joe Wood
UCSB Saves: Fraser Bunn 10
LMU Goals: Milligan 2, Schlegel 2, Aki, Asajavicius, Horton, MacDonnell
LMU Saves: Stevens 12
