MALIBU, Calif. – The third-seeded UC Santa Barbara men's water polo team advanced to the semifinal of the Golden Coast Conference Championships with a 13-9 win over UC Irvine in the opening round of the tournament on Friday morning at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool.
With the victory, the Gauchos (20-6) reached 20 wins for the first time since 2008, and the eighth time in program history.
Santa Barbara's success in the second quarter proved to be the difference in the match, in which UCSB outscored UC Irvine 6-1 to lead 8-3 at the half.
Opening goals from UCSB junior defender Mason McQuet and senior attacker Jacob Halle were equaled by a pair of strikes from Irvine's Jason Evezard, as the first quarter ended 2-2.
Then, Santa Barbara came alive offensively.
A 44-second double from junior attacker Cole Brosnan less than three minutes into the second quarter put the Gauchos up 4-2.
Irvine's Casey Lynton replied with a goal, but any momentum going the other way was quickly halted by McQuet, a pair of goals from sophomore driver Nathan Puentes, and sophomore attacker Sam Nangle.
The attack didn't let down to begin the third quarter, as Halle got another one on the board 25 seconds into the new half.
Irvine went back-and-forth with the Gauchos twice to cut the Gaucho lead to 10-5, but freshman attacker Colton Gregory and redshirt junior center Adam Lott earned the last two goals of the period to bump UCSB up to a seven-goal lead.
Having built up a sizable lead, UCSB cruised through the fourth quarter and booked its spot in tomorrow's GCC Championships semifinal.
Both Cole Brosnan and Puentes ended the match with hat tricks to their name, and Halle and McQuet had two apiece.
Cole Brosnan also finished with two assists, sharing the team lead with McQuet and freshman attacker Mason Chambliss.
The Gauchos will face second seed Pepperdine tomorrow, with the action set to start at 11:15 a.m. The winner will advance to the Golden Coast Conference Championships final, while the non-advancing team will play in the third-place match, both of which will take place on Sunday.
A livestream of the game is available on the men's water polo schedule page, as well as a link to live stats.
Follow UCSB men's water polo all season long by following its pages on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
