IRVINE, Calif. – In the final game of the season for the UC Santa Barbara men's water polo team, the No. 6 seeded Gauchos rallied late, scoring the final six goals to defeat No. 5 seed San Jose State 18-14 in overtime to claim fifth place at the Golden Coast Conference Championships on Saturday evening.
After a seesaw battle throughout the entire game, UCSB found itself trailing 14-12 with just under a minute remaining before Chad Nelson found the back of the cage to cut the deficit to one with 58 seconds on the clock.
After a defensive stop, the Gauchos regained possession and Reed Cotterill delivered in the clutch with a game-tying goal with just 12 seconds remaining to force overtime.
In the two overtime periods, it was all UCSB as Max Schaum poured in back-to-back scores to go with goals from Boris Jovanovic and Mason Mcquet, with five seconds left, to seal the victory.
Jovanovic led the way with five goals for the Gauchos while Cotterill tallied four and Shane Hauschild, Schaum and Nelson each added a pair apiece. Along with Mcquet, Jacob Halle and Tommy Fellner also scored in the final game of the year.
San Jose State was led by five goals from Ben Hauschild, brother of UCSB's Shane Hauschild.
Cotterill was named to the All-Tournament Team.
The Gauchos end the year with an 11-12 record while SJSU finishes 13-15. UCSB graduates All-Americans Hauschild and Cotterill along with Schaum, Josh Jordan, Jamie Taylor, and Mitch Young.
