SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The No. 8 UC Santa Barbara women's water polo team (12-8, 1-0 Big West) came back from a 7-4 deficit to defeat No. 21 CSUN in its Big West Conference opener on Saturday afternoon at Campus Pool.

Senior co-captain Sarah Snyder had the game-winner in double-overtime, while Amanda Legaspi recorded a hat trick.

Legaspi scored the first goal of the game with 4:09 to go in the first quarter, and CSUN's Madasonne Butler immediately replied 29 seconds later to tie the game up at 1-1.

In the second quarter, the sequence was reversed. Sara Dempsey of the Matadors scored to put the visitors up 2-1 just over a minute into the second quarter, but Legaspi equalized with 6:33 to go in the half.

CSUN would go on to score the next four goals of the game on a run lasting through to the first minute of the third quarter.

The Gauchos' Claire Kelly and Legaspi scored to cut the lead to 6-4, but CSUN's Katia Andon-Mateos nabbed a goal with 2:35 left in the third quarter to put the Matadors back up by three.

In the fourth quarter, the Gauchos' comeback bid began with a Mollie Simmons strike with 6:13 left in regulation.

It continued with another Simmons goal less than two minutes later, and Sarah Snyder got the Gauchos back on level terms at 7-7 with 2:31 remaining in regulation.

Senior co-captain Kate Coski scored to put Santa Barbara on top with 1:13 left off a Legaspi pass, but the Matadors' McKenzie Beardsley tied it up once again in the dying seconds of the period.

There was no scoring in what was a very tense first overtime, and the breakthrough didn't come until there was just 1:26 to go in the second overtime, when the co-captains combined for the game-winner, Coski to Sarah Snyder past the CSUN goalkeeper to get UCSB its maiden Big West victory of the season.

The Gauchos face Whittier on March 24 in their next matchup.

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