SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The ninth-ranked UC Santa Barbara women's water polo team split a doubleheader with No. 11 UC Davis in the Gauchos' home opener on Sunday afternoon at Campus Pool.
The Gauchos defeated the Aggies in the first game, the only one countable towards the Big West standings, 12-10, before falling to UC Davis 11-9 in the second contest.
With the split, the Gauchos move to 3-3 on the season, but they do kick off the conference slate with a 1-0 record.
Game one: UCSB 12, UC Davis 10
The Gauchos and Aggies kept each other in check in the first period, with neither team managing to lead by more than a goal, though UCSB senior attacker Mollie Simmons put the Gauchos ahead 5-4 on a powerplay in the final minute of the quarter.
It wasn't until the second period in which the Gauchos would begin to take control of the game, with junior attacker Amanda Legaspi scoring to make it 6-4 with 6:41 remaining in the half.
Davis' Allyson Clague responded with a goal, but UCSB added two more through sophomore attacker Claire Kelly to make it an 8-5 game.
The Gauchos held their lead throughout the contest and went on to lead by as many as four goals in the fourth period, when freshman defender Savannah Burns scored her first career goal at Campus Pool with 5:18 remaining in regulation.
UC Davis rallied, scoring goals at the 1:26 and :42 marks to cut the lead to 12-10, but the Gauchos saw out their lead and claimed their first Big West Conference win of 2021.
Game two: UC Davis 11, UCSB 9
In the second game, Morgan Polterock tied the game up at 2-2 midway through the second period and the Aggies didn't look back, scoring six unanswered from that point through to late in the third period to lead 7-2.
Nina Munson, Courtney Heydorff, and Caitlyn Snyder, however, pulled the Gauchos back into the contest by leading a 6-2 run that put the hosts within one goal of UC Davis' 9-8 lead.
The Aggies' Noelle Wijnbelt scored with just under three minutes to go to make it 10-8, but Munson scored her fourth goal of the game with 1:18 left to close the gap once again.
Unfortunately, the Gauchos were unable to create any further opportunities, and Wijnbelt sealed the deal for the Aggies with an empty net goal after the Gauchos had pushed up to attack.
The Gauchos take on UC San Diego next weekend in San Diego at Triton Pool. UCSB and UCSD will play on Friday, March 26 at 6:00 p.m. and again on Saturday, March 27 at 12:00 p.m.
