No. 4 UCSB (18-7, 5-0) fell to No. 9 Pepperdine (14-12, 2-3) 11-7 in the GCC Tournament semifinals on Saturday night, ending the Gauchos' seven-game win streak. Santa Barbara will now play No. 7 Long Beach State in the third-place game at 3:30 p.m after the 49ers fell to No. 5 Pacific 12-11 in the semis.
Top-seeded UCSB had gone 3-0 against the Waves during the regular season, but its defense which had kept six straight ranked opponents under ten goals could not a Pepperdine side that scored at least twice in every period on Saturday. Pepperdine's Cristian Bridley led all scorers with four goals, while the Gauchos were led by Boris Jovanovic and Shane Hauschild with two scores each.
Santa Barbara got off to a promising start to the game, taking a 2-0 lead out of the gates after a goal by Hauschild was quickly followed with another goal where Thomas Martinho found Mitch Hamilton at the 6:49 mark. Three different Pepperdine players would score over the next few minutes, giving the Waves a 3-2 advantage before another goal by Hauschild made it 3-3 heading into the second quarter.
UCSB's offense would go cold from there, not finding a goal until the final seconds of the third quarter. Pepperdine meanwhile stayed hot, with Sean Thomas picking up a goal and Mark Urban scoring twice in the second to take a 6-3 lead into the half.
The Waves would keep their foot on the gas pedal after the halftime break, extending to a 6-0 run after a pair of scores by Bridley and a goal by Kenneth Keller, making it 9-3 with 3:24 to go in the third. Martinho would then score his second of the night to make it 9-4 heading into the final stanza.
Needing a huge fourth quarter, UCSB did end up outscoring Pepperdine 3-2 over the final eight minutes, but it was too little too late. Bridley put away his fourth goal with 5:03 to go, giving the Waves a 10-4 lead, before Boris Jovanovic scored twice in less than a minute to make it 10-6. Pepperdine's Marko Asic put away the Waves' final goal with 2:18 remaining, and Spencer Likins scored one for the Gauchos in the final seconds, as they fell 11-7.
Pepperdine goalkeeper Zack Rhodes was outstanding on the night, recording game-highs of 17 saves and five steals. UCSB's Liam Lenihan, an All-GCC First-Team selection, finished with eight saves and a steal.
The Gauchos will now face Long Beach State in the third-place game at 3:30 p.m. They are 1-1 against the 49ers this season.
