DAVIS – The No. 17 UC Santa Barbara women’s water polo stunned No. 10 UC Davis on the road Friday afternoon in the teams’ Big West opener. The Gauchos (10-11, 1-0) fought back late in the game to take back the lead and won their first conference game of the season by a score of 7-5.
Camila Schafer added another memorable performance to her freshman campaign, in scoring a game-high five goals including three in the third quarter. Bryn Hudson and Sophie Trabucco also contributed to the offensive effort with a one goal each. Defensively, goalkeeper Mackenzie Brokaw ended the match with seven saves and three steals.
The match began with both teams on the attack but UCSB would get to strike first. At the 5:28 mark, Sophie Trabucco found her opportunity and snuck the ball behind Aggie goalkeeper Jillian Wilding. UC Davis would respond in the two minutes with back-to-back goals to take their first lead of the game entering the second quarter.
The Aggies created more distance between them and the Gauchos with another goal in the middle of the second quarter from Allyson Hansen, making it 3-1. However, Schafer put UCSB back within one after launching a powerful strike into the net at the 2:14 mark.
With UCSB Entering the second half down 3-2, Schafer carried the Gaucho offense in an explosive third quarter with four goals coming within the last five minutes. Bryn Hudson started off the scoring streak with a shot over Wilding for the equalizer, but UC Davis recaptured its lead after Bryn Lutz aimed her shot past Brokaw’s reach.
But Davis’ time ahead would be short lived, as Schafer knotted the game back up at 4-4 just 16 seconds later. Two minutes afterwards, Schafer found the back of the net yet again, and the Gauchos never looked back.
Though she had to swap out her typical No. 7 cap for No. 16, Schafer continued to dominate the third, as she completed the quarter’s hat trick in scoring as the clock expired, giving UCSB the 6-4 advantage.
With the lead in hand, the Gauchos limited the Aggies to just one more goal, and held them scoreless for the remainder of the match. Hannah Harvey delivered her lone goal of the game with 5:03 remaining to pull her team within one, but Schafer quickly notched her fifth goal just ten seconds later. Behind Brokaw’s three saves, UCSB prevented any threats the rest of the quarter and upended UC Davis by a final score of 7-5.
The Gauchos will remain in Davis for the weekend as they will take part in the Aggie Shootout. First, they will square off against No. 20 Santa Clara tomorrow at 11:15 a.m. and will then face No. 14 Pacific at 3:30 p.m. Both games will take place at the Schaal Aquatics Complex, as UCSB will vie for pull off the regular season sweep of the Broncos and will look to even its series with the Tigers.
