La Jolla, Calif.-- One day after rolling through its first two matches, No. 7 UC Santa Barbara (3-1) came into day two of the Triton Invitational with two matches against highly ranked programs. Santa Barbara suffered a tight 9-6 defeat to No. 4 California (4-0), but bounced back with a 12-7 victory over No. 11 UC Davis (1-3).

Facing the Golden Bears, UCSB struggled offensively as the team was held without a goal during the first period. With goals from Thomas Carroll, Luka Ivanovich, and Connor Neumann, the Gauchos faced an early 3-0 deficit.

Senior, Eric Van de Mortel got the Gauchos on the board with a quick 7:30 score at the start of the second period. The following six minutes proved to be a defensive battle as the next goal came from Cal's Blake Kelly at the 1:13 mark. Despite the goal, the Gauchos cut into the lead with a solid strike from Bryan Snyder.

Trailing 4-2 in the third period, UCSB's Van de Mortel struck again to make it a one goal deficit. The next six minutes proved to be crucial as Cal score three unanswered goals to make the score 7-3. The Gauchos closed the period strong as the team scored two straight goals to pull within two of the Golden Bears.

The Gauchos tallied a single score in the final period as Chase Racich netted a 4:34 goal. Fighting hard, the Gauchos ultimately fell just short to the Golden Bears by the score of 9-6.

Following the earlier loss, UCSB got back to the pool for a 1:45 p.m. showdown against No. 11 UC Davis.

Freshman attacker, Shane Hauschild scored his fifth goal of the weekend to give UCSB the early lead. Despite the early offense, UCSB fell to 2-1 deficit after one period.

Nicholas Jordan and Van de Mortel jump started the offense as the two scored back to back goals to give the Gauchos the narrow lead. After an Aggies equalizer, the Gauchos caught fire as the team score three unanswered goals to close the half. With two goals from Ryan Baliani, and a goal from Van de Mortel, UCSB claimed a 6-3 lead at the half.

The third period was filled with offensive flare as the two teams combined for 9 goals in the period. Jordan collected his second goal of the match with an emphatic 7:37 score. Van de Mortel completed a hat trick with his goal at the 5:46 mark. With goals from Kevin Cappon, Bryan Snyder, and Mark Garner, the Gauchos controlled the match with a 11-7 lead.

The Aggies could not find an answer as the Gauchos defense held Davis scoreless in the final period. With his fourth goal of the match, Van de Mortel put the Gauchos on top with a 12-7 victory over the Aggies.

For the day, Van de Mortel showcased his offensive talent with a total of six goals. Junior goalkeeper, Chris Whitelegge, came up big as he tallied 17 saves through the two matches.

UCSB 6, California 9 

UCSB Goals: Eric Van de Mortel (2) Bryan Snyder, Chase Racich, Patrick Eggert, Matthew Hamilton
UCSB Saves: Chris Whitelegge (6)

Cal Goals: Luca Cupido (3) Thomas Carroll (2) Blake Kelly, Colin Mulcahy, Luka Ivanovich, Conor Neumann
Cal Saves: Jon Sibley (13)

UC Davis 7, UCSB 12

UCD Goals: Chris Richardson (2) Sean Grab (2) Max Vigeant, Spencer Galli, Cory Laidig
UCD Saves: Spencer Creed (6)

UCSB Goals: Eric Van de Mortel (4) Ryan Baliani (2) Nicholas Jordan (2) Shane Hauschild, Mark Garner, Bryan Snyder, Kevin Cappon
UCSB Saves: Chris Whitelegge (11)