SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Coming off a remarkable second place finish at the Southern California Tournament last week, UC Santa Barbara produced two more wins on Sunday at Campus Pool, improving its overall record to 14-3. UCSB backed up its No. 2 ranking with a 15-8 victory over Iona and later defeated Harvard 16-12 during the twin bill.
Though Iona got the early 1-0 lead in game one, UCSB gained a 2-1 advantage with a five-meter shot from Matt Gronow and a beautiful backhanded two-meter shot from Teddy Zhang. Iona tied the game up 2-2, but a string of goals from Brendan McElroy, Evan Dellinger and Gronow put the Gauchos on top, 5-2, after the first period.
The second quarter was a different story though. Iona was capitalizing on its opportunities whereas UCSB was having trouble putting the ball in the back of the net. With 1:52 left in the half, Iona pulled within one goal making the score 7-6, but a late goal from Dellinger kept the Gauchos up at half, 8-6.
The third quarter was when UCSB separated itself as it produced an 11-6 lead over the Gaels with goals from Matt Johnson, Bryce Miller and Dellinger, who tallied a hat trick. Outscoring Iona, 4-2, in the fourth quarter, UC Santa Barbara came out on top with a 15-8 victory.
Dellinger led the Gauchos with three goals while goalkeeper Myles Christian accumulated nine saves.
After defeating Iona earlier in the morning, UCSB came back to the pool to end the doubleheader against Harvard. The Gauchos did not look fatigued as they came out shooting in the first period and took a 7-1 lead. Two goals apiece from Eric Van De Mortel and Johnson, and goals from Dellinger, Nick Tomasello and Brian Shoemaker guided the Gauchos to the large lead.
As Dellinger did in the earlier game, Van De Mortel produced his own hat-trick with a goal in the second period. The Gauchos scored three more goals, giving them a commanding 10-4 lead at the half.
In the third period, Harvard battled back with three goals, all scored by freshman attacker, Noah Harrison. With goals from Zhang and Gronow, UCSB maintained a 12-7 lead.
Winding down the day of action, UCSB added to its lead with goals from Gronow and Van De Mortel. This put the Gauchos up, 15-8, but the Crimson fought until the end, and added three goals to cut the lead to 15-11. Each team added one more goal and the final score stood at 16-12.
Van De Mortel scored a team leading four goals and Chris Whitelegge tallied a team-leading eight saves.
The coming weeks will be a great test for UCSB. The Gauchos open their Mountain Pacific Sports Federation schedule with rematches against Stanford on Oct. 13 at noon, and UCLA on Oct. 20 at noon, both games will be hosted at Campus Pool.
Tickets for home men's water polo games are available by visiting the Ticket Office in the Intercollegiate Athletics Building on campus, by calling (805) 893-UCSB or by clicking here.
UCSB 15, Iona 8
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1
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2
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3
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4
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Final
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Iona
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2
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4
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0
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2
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8
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UCSB
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5
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3
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3
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4
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15
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Iona Goals: Lloyd 3, Elmore, Thompson, Stiles, Presto, Stelnicki.
Iona Saves: Hill 15.
UCSB Goals: Dellinger 3, Gronow 2, B. Shoemaker, Johnson, Zhang, McElroy, J. Miller, Tomasello, B. Miller, Snyder, D. Shoemaker, Van de Mortel.
UCSB Saves: Christian 9, Patterson 2.
UCSB 16, Harvard 12
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1
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2
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3
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4
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Final
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Harvard
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1
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3
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3
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5
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12
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UCSB
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7
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3
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2
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4
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16
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Harvard Goals: Harrison 3, Zepfel 2, Eliot 2, McCowan, Lee, Murphy, Roller, Pluegge.
Harvard Saves: Woolway 3.
UCSB Goals: Van de Mortel 4, Zhang 3, Gronow 3, Johnson 2, McElroy, Tomasello, Dellinger.
UCSB Saves: Whitelegge 8, Patterson 4.
