IRVINE, Calif. — The No. 12 UC Santa Barbara Men's Water Polo team faced two ranked opponents from the West Coast Conference on Sunday, rounding out the inaugural Big West-WCC Clash. While they fell to No. 15 San Jose State in their morning matchup, the Gauchos came out victorious against No. 13 Loyola Marymount later in the day, clinching a win over the Lions at 16-15. Finn Genc and Dash McFarland stood out among Santa Barbara's offense against LMU, notching three goals and four goals respectively. 

FROM HEAD COACH WOLF WIGO
"San Jose played very well," Wigo said after the morning game. "Their star goalie made his debut as he had to sit out the beginning of the season, and he played extremely well. We struggled to convert the power play and let them get a number of goals from center."

"(The win over LMU) was a strong finish to the weekend," Wigo said. "We really played very well most of the time, but unfortunately each time we pulled away we let them come back on us with some mistakes. A lot of positives offensively, however."
 
NO. 12 UC SANTA BARBARA 6, NO. 15 SAN JOSE STATE 12
The Gauchos fired everything they could at San Jose State in Sunday morning's game, but ultimately fell to the Spartans. Despite an attempted shot count of 31, only 6 of those were able to make it to the back of the net. Gauchos across the roster contributed to the final goal count. Adam Gyenis led the way with two. 

NO. 12 UC SANTA BARBARA 16, NO. 13 LOYOLA MARYMOUNT 15
Santa Barbara held a consistent lead over the Lions throughout the first half of this afternoon's matchup, ending the first half of the game at 9-8. However, the third quarter saw the Lions come away ahead, the scoreboard reading 14-13 in favor of LMU at the whistle. Gauchos cashed in on their efforts however, and a tight fourth quarter resulted in a Santa Barbara victory. McFarland's score with 3:38 left in the game proved to be the game winner.

UP NEXT
UC Santa Barbara will meet UC Merced at 2:30 p.m. and Cal State Fullerton at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday as part of a tri-match day at Santa Barbara High School. Due to facility capacity restrictions, only fans on the player pass list will be admitted.