• The Schedule
Triton Invitational | Tournament Central Page
Canyonview Aquatic Center | San Diego, Calif.
Tickets
Saturday, Feb. 12 at 9:20 a.m.
No. 16 UCSB (7-2) vs. No. 1 USC (4-0)
Live Stats
Saturday, Feb. 12 at 5:20 p.m.
No. 16. UCSB (7-2) vs. No. 13 Long Beach St. (3-3)
Live Stats
Sunday, Feb. 13 at TBA (2 games)
• Gauchos Carry 3-Game Win Streak Into Tritonal Invational
Last time in the pool, No. 16 UCSB went undefeated in three games to close out the month of January, defeating Biola 13-7, Concordia (Cal.) 17-10, and Fresno Pacific (19-4). Dating back to the season-opening UCSB Winter Invite, the Gauchos have now won six of their last seven, with the only loss coming at the hands of No. 3 UCLA.
This weekend, Santa Barbara opens the Triton Inviational against No. 1 USC at 9:20 a.m. before closing the day against No. 16 Long Beach State at 5:20 p.m. The Gauchos' two-game schedule for Sunday will be decided by the results of day one. Live stats will be provided for all games, but will only be streamed if UCSB plays against the host No. 12 UC San Diego Tritons.
• Snyder Leading The Offense
Utility Caitlyn Snyder has been one of the program's top producers for the past few years, and that hasn't changed during her redshirt junior year. The Fresno, Calif. native is averaging 2.0 goals and 2.7 assists per game, contributing to a team-leading 42 goals in total. She also paces the Gauchos in drawn exclusions (11) and field blocks (7), owns an efficient .462 shooting percentage, and is tied for third with 11 steals. Snyder enters the Triton Invational with back-to-back three-goal outings and four straight games with three assists.
• Leigh Lighting It Up
Redshirt freshman attacker Leigh Lyter is coming off her fourth four-goal performance of the season in UCSB's 19-4 win over Fresno Pacific. She owns four of the six four-goal outings on the team. Lyter was the first Gaucho to cross the 20-goal mark in 2022, having found the back of the net a team-best 23 times (.500) in nine games. She also leads her squad with 16 steals and is tied for third with nine drawn exclusions. The former Mira Costa High School standout helped give the Gauchos their first win over a top-20 team this season, sending in an incredible buzzer-beating game-winner from near the middle of the pool to knock off then-No. 19 Princeton 15-14.
• Defending The Cage
Goalkeepers Madison Button and Taylor McEvilly have split tie in the cage this year. Button (5-1) has tallied 25 saves, while McEvilly (2-1) has registered 20. McEvilly also has two assists and five steals, while Button has tallied four steals.
• Offensive Punch
After Snyder and Lyter, UCSB has three other goalscorers who have reached double-figures through nine games. Redshirt freshman attacker Nina Munson is tied with Snyder for the second-most goals with 18 and is the only other Gaucho with more than nine assists (11). Freshman utility Annie Kuester comes in fourth with 15 goals on an outstanding .789 shooting percentage and is tied with Lyter for the third-most drawn exclusions (9). Redshirt junior attacker Sarah Owens has tallied 12 goals and seven assists.
• Strong Start
UCSB opened the year with a 4-1 record for the third time under head coach Serela Kay. The last time the Gauchos started this way in 2019, they finished with an overall record of 22-8.
• Crunch Time
The Gauchos have averaged a +6.1 margin of victory in their seven wins. From Jan. 22-23, they won three straight games by one goal, all of which capped off a memorable fourth quarter comeback. Against Wagner, they trailed 14-13 with 4:25 left before scoring thre straight goals. Later in the day, they came back from a three-goal third quarter deficit against Princeton before Lyter's epic game-winner put them on top 15-14. The following day, UCSB won its third straight in miraculous fashion, overcoming a 12-9 Brown lead over the final 1:38 of regulation before taking a 14-13 overtime win.
• 2021 in Review
UCSB was only in action for a month in 2021 before the rest of its season was cancelled, finishing with an overall 3-5 record. The Gauchos opened the year with a pair of one-goal wins at No. 17 San Diego State, the 99th and 100th career wins for head coach Serela Kay. Three weeks later, they came away with a 12-10 home win over No. 11 UC Davis in their Big West opener. Amanda Legaspi ended the year atop the UCSB stat sheet with 14 goals and Caitlyn Snyder (9 goals, 6 assists) finished second on the team with 15 points.
• The Lineup
Back in the lineup for her fourth year with the team is perennial producer Caitlyn Snyder. Goalkeeper Madison Button also returns after starting in every game of 2021, when she averaged 8.8 saves per game. Nina Munson, Sarah Owens, Leigh Lyter and Claire Kelly are also among the team's returners. The roster also welcomes 12 true freshmen. Casey Coppock and Taylor McEvilly join the goalkeeper crew; Juju Amaral, Aidan Flynn, Mackie Whitehead, Emily Ferguson and Mackenzie Murphy are on the attacking unit along with center Imani Clemons; Mel Damato and Ken Corlett bolster the defense; and Cami Mras and Annie Kuester are listed as utilities.
• 108 Wins and Counting
The 2022 season marks the eighth at the helm for Serela Kay, the Gauchos' all-time winningest coach. Kay owns a 108-80 (.574) record since joining the team in June of 2014.
Under Kay's leadership, five Gauchos have earned All-American status for a total of seven selections, and 13 Gauchos have earned a total of 21 All-Big West selections. In 2016, she was named the Big West Coach of the Year, becoming the first head coach in program history to be named conference coach of the year. Following that season, the program had multiple All-Americans for the first time since 1999, as the Gauchos clinched their first ever NCAA Tournament berth and earned their first ever Big West Championship and NCAA Tournament wins.
• The 2022 Slate
The Gauchos' 2022 schedule includes a home tournament, two away tournaments, and three other non-conference games on top of their six-game Big West Conference slate. Following the UCSB Winter Invite, they will head inland to face Biola and Redlands on Jan. 28. Cal Baptist will host the Gauchos on Jan. 29.
The month of February will see UCSB close out its non-conference schedule at UCSD's Triton Invite (Feb. 12-13) and UC Irvine's Barbara Kalbus Invitational (Feb. 25-27). The Gauchos begin conference play with a Saturday home meeting against UCI on Mar. 5. Senior Day will welcome UC San Diego (Apr. 9) to town for their home finale, and the final regular season game will be played at UC Davis on Apr. 16.
From there, head coach Kay and her team travel to Hawai'i for the Big West Tournament, taking place from April 21-23, as the Gauchos will battle for their first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2016. A successful trip to Honolulu would send UCSB to Ann Arbor, Michigan for the NCAA Tournament from May 6-8.
• Collegiate Water Polo National Rankings
1 USC
2 Cal
3 UCLA
4 Stanford
5 Michigan
6 Hawaii
7 UC Irvine
8 Fresno St.
9 Arizona St.
10 UC Davis
11 San Jose St.
12 UC San Diego
13 Long Beach St.
14 Wagner
15 Pacific
16 UC Santa Barbara
17 Long Island
18 Indiana
19 San Diego St.
20 Loyola Marymount
21 Princeton
22 Harvard
23 Marist
24 Bucknell
25 Brown
• Going Digital
Install the new UCSB Gaucho Gameday app on your smartphone for exclusive UCSB coverage all season long. Now available on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store.
UCSB has moved to mobile ticketing beginning this season. For more information, click here.
