DAVIS, Calif. – UCSB competed in a pair of closely contested matches on Saturday, as the Gauchos clinched a 6-5 win over No. 20 Santa Clara and fell 7-6 to No. 14 Pacific.
The Gauchos are now 11-12 on the season and will close out the Aggie Shootout with Wagner tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. Both teams entered this week tied for 17th in the national rankings.
Bryn Hudson, Camila Schafer, and Jade Wentz-Fitzgerald led UCSB with two goals each, while Taylor Shore picked up a two steals. Mackenzie Brokaw tallied 15 total saves between the matches and recorded 10 versus the Broncos.
SANTA CLARA
No. 17 UC Santa Barbara squeaked by No. 20 Santa Clara 6-5 at the Aggie shootout on Saturday. Despite 16 saves by SCU's goalkeeper, Jenna Solberg's clutch 6-on-5 goal with three minutes remaining in the match lifted the Gauchos to victory.
Taylor Shore, Camila Schafer, Bryn Hudson, Solberg, Samantha Murphy and Jade Wentz Fitzgerald all contributed a goal for Santa Barbara. Schafer has now scored a total of nine goals in her last three matches.
Santa Clara's Elizabeth Anderson broke a 1-1 tie scoring 42 seconds in the second quarter giving the Broncos a slight edge. The Gauchos responded scoring two unanswered goals, one at the four minute mark of the second, and another with 29 seconds left in the first half to take a 2-1 lead into the break.
Out of halftime, the Broncos' Elle Surber scored just under three minutes into the third to tie the match up at three apiece. Julia Peters scored her second goal of the day three minutes later to give the Broncos a 4-3 lead.
With six seconds left in the third, Wentz Fitzgerald scored for the Gauchos to tie the match back up heading into the final quarter.
A minute into the fourth, Ashleigh Bandimere scored for Santa Clara giving the Broncos a 6-5 advantage. Two minutes later, UCSB's Camila Schafer, who has been on fire lately, scored with 5:13 remaining to tie the match for the fifth time on the day.
With the pressure on and the match knotted up at five all, Solberg came through for Santa Barbara scoring with three minutes to spare, ultimately giving the Gauchos the narrow one-point win.
UCSB has now won three of their last four matches led by freshman sensation Schafer, who leads the Gauchos in scoring with 31 goals on the year.
PACIFIC
After fighting their way back from a three-goal deficit, the UC Santa Barbara women's water polo team was unable to take down No. 14 Pacific, falling 7-6.
The second match of the day for the Gauchos (11-12, 1-0) saw another collaborative effort as six different players scored and 28 total shots were taken. Despite a strong offensive showing, penalties would prove to be costly with Pacific taking advantage twice to record goals.
UCSB began the game with an early lead and a shutout in the first quarter. Sophomore attacker Brenna Thomas netted the first goal in the early minutes, after which the Gauchos prevented the Tigers from threatening to score. At the 2:39 mark Tess Wardle hurled the ball over Pacific goalkeeper Michele Relton to make the score 2-0 going into the last part of the half.
Pacific's offense would appear in the second quarter to undo the Gaucho lead. Taylor Adair's shot flew over Mackenzie Brokaw to finally get the Tigers on the board. A few minutes later, a penalty would place Pacific in a favorable position to shoot straightaway to the net and tie the game. UCSB would get their last shot at being ahead when Camila Schafer lobbed a shot into a corner of the net. With less than a minute before halftime, Tiger Gracie Smith evened the score at 3-3.
Gaucho penalties would continue in the beginning of the final half that gave Pacific the upper hand. Adair had back-to-back goals in the opening minutes to set the Tigers back up at 5-3. Senior Jade Wentz-Fitzgerald trimmed that lead down to one at the 2:57 with her shot past Relton. Pacific still fought back with another goal as Brydie Pye snuck the ball over Brokaw's reach in the last ten seconds.
The final quarter saw UCSB attempting to get another upset over their higher-ranked opponent. With Tiger Anna Kertes making it 7-4, the Gauchos doubled their endeavor by taking more shots in the last few minutes of the game. Freshman Elizabeth Hendrix put UCSB within two after scoring on a penalty shot that she lobbed into the net. In the last minute Bryn Hudson flung the ball over Relton but it was too late to make the equalizer and the Gauchos lost by a final score of 7-6.
