On a cloudy day at Campus Pool, No. 7 UCSB (11-10, 2-6) defeated No. 10 Pepperdine (9-15, 1-7), 11-10, in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation game.
On senior day, it was the seniors who made key plays to get UCSB the win. Senior Fraser Bunn had many crucial saves in the cage, senior Joe Plume gave the Gauchos the first possession in the second half with a speedy race for the ball and senior Brian Bishop earned an ejection leading to the first goal of the game. In his final game at home, Milos Golic had the most impressive performance of all the seniors. He gave UCSB the early lead with a penalty shot goal on the Gauchos’ opening drive and recorded a hat trick in the first quarter.
Just after the start of the game, Bishop earned a penalty ejection, giving Golic a penalty shot opportunity. Golic connected on the five-meter goal for an early 1-0 lead for UCSB. The scoring continued when Golic recorded back-to-back goals, the second of which came on another penalty shot. This gave UCSB the early 3-0 lead.
The Waves’ loan goal of the quarter was from Stephen Loomis at the two-minute mark. Loomis recorded a total of four goals on the day.
The Gauchos finished the first period by scoring two more goals, the first of which came on an assist from Matt Gronow to Noah Smith who tipped the ball into the net. The second goal came from Zsombor Vincze with only three seconds left in the first quarter and put UCSB up, 5-1.
The momentum shifted and the Waves made a strong comeback. Nathan Castillo recorded his first goal of the game followed by a goal from Travis Gough to bring the score to within two, at 5-3. Castillo totaled three goals in the second quarter for Pepperdine.
At the five-minute mark in the second period, Gronow connected with the back of the net to put UCSB up 6-3. But Pepperdine would come back again and charged all the way back to tie the game at seven just before halftime.
After the break, the Gauchos regained the lead on a goal from Lazar Komodinic. A little over a minute later, Vincze connected on his second goal for the game and gave UCSB a 9-7 lead.
Pepperdine came back once again to tie the game at nine with a goal from Loomis and a goal from Rex Learmouth.
Just one minute and 15 seconds into the fourth quarter Gronow nailed his second goal of the game and gave the Gauchos a one-point lead. The Gauchos then sealed the win with a breakaway by sophomore Brian Shoemaker who floated the ball over the goalkeeper and into the net.
The Waves would score the final goal of the game, but the Gauchos took the victory, 11-10, and improved their conference record to 2-6. Pepperdine now sits at 1-7 in the MPSF after the loss.
The Gauchos will now face No. 3 USC (23-2, 6-2) on Friday, Nov. 26 at 11:30 am in the first round of the MPSF Tournament.
