SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The fifth-ranked UC Santa Barbara men's water polo team (11-2) defeated No. 9 UC San Diego 16-11 but fell 12-10 to No. 1 UCLA in its home-opening matches at Campus Pool on Saturday afternoon.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Game one: No. 5 UCSB 16, No. 9 UC San Diego 11
- Senior attacker Leo Yuno was on fire early, scoring twice in both the first and second periods of play to help the Gauchos take an 11-7 halftime lead.
- In his home debut, senior attacker Sawyer Rhodes earned a hat-trick against the Tritons, completing it 28 seconds into the final period of play after scoring in the second and third quarters.
- Senior goalkeeper Connor Macdonald picked up the win for the Gauchos in goal, making nine saves.
Game two: No. 1 UCLA 12, No. 5 UCSB 10
- UCSB went down 4-2 after the first quarter in its attempt to avenge its loss against UCLA earlier in the season at the 2021 Triton Invitational, but a strong five-goal second quarter with two goals from senior driver Nathan Puentes and one apiece from junior attacker Sam Nangle, freshman driver Adam Gyenis, and a beautiful finish from Yuno with four seconds left meant the Gauchos went into the half with the score tied at 7-7.
- UCLA retook the lead after the half on a penalty shot and extended it at even-strength before sophomore attacker Colton Gregory put UCSB back within one.
- However, the Bruins scored back-to-back goals to end the third period and kept UCSB shots out of the cage until the 2:06 mark in the fourth quarter, when Nangle scored a second goal.
- UCLA answered back with a Nicolas Saveljic goal to lead by three once again with 1:37 to go, and the Gauchos would only manage a Ryan Brosnan goal with 30 seconds remaining as their comeback bid fell short.
UP NEXT
- The Gauchos travel to the Bay Area for the 2021 MPSF Invitational, hosted by Cal at Legends Aquatic Complex and Spieker Aquatic Complex. The opening contest for UCSB will take place on Friday, Sept. 24 at 6:00 p.m. with UC Irvine as its first opponent. Tournament details will be available throughout the weekend on UCSBGauchos.com. Live stats will be available, but the tournament will not be streamed.
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