SAN JOSE, Calif. – Colton Gregory recorded his first hat trick of the season and goalkeeper Danny Roland finished with 12 saves and a goal of his own as the No. 10 UC Santa Barbara men's water polo won its second straight on Saturday at No. 14 San Jose State 14-8.
The Gauchos improve to 12-11 on the year and 2-1 in GCC play with their fifth win in their last seven outings. The Spartans fall to 10-12 overall, 0-3 conference.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Goalscorers: Gregory (3), McFarland (2), Hawkins (2), Nangle (2), Brosnan, Hoover, J. Matarangas, Coons, Roland
Saves: Danny Roland (12)
After a Tommy Hawkins penalty opened the scoring less than 90 seconds in, the Spartans scored twice to take their first lead of the day. Things remained close until the third quarter, when the home side went up 6-5 at the 6:29 mark.
From there, it was all Gauchos. Dash McFarland equalized on UCSB's next possession. Sam Nangle put the Gauchos ahead by one, and Gregory ended the third period with two more goals to give his team a 9-6 advantage heading into the fourth.
UCSB didn't let up in the final frame, never seeing its lead drop below three goals the rest of the way. The Gauchos outscored the Spartans 5-2 in the fourth and 9-3 in the second half.
Roland finished with double-digit saves for the fifth straight game.
NEXT UP
The Gauchos will now look ahead to their regular season home finale against No. 3-T Pacific at 12:00 p.m. at Campus Pool.
