LOS ANGELES — The UC Santa Barbara Men's Water Polo team has a big weekend coming up, as the Gauchos will face the nation's top team, UCLA, in Los Angeles on Friday before returning home to host the ninth-ranked UC Irvine Anteaters on Saturday. UC Santa Barbara's game against the Bruins is their final non-conference match of the season, and Saturday's game against UC Irvine will kick off UC Santa Barbara Men's Water Polo Alumni Weekend.
 
WHEN AND WHERE TO WATCH
The Gauchos and Bruins will get underway at 11 a.m. on Friday, October 20 from Spieker Aquatics Center in Los Angeles. The match will not be broadcast, but live stats are available through ucsbgauchos.com.
 
UC Santa Barbara will host UC Irvine at Dos Pueblos High School on Saturday, October 21, with a start time set for 12 noon. For Saturday, only those fans on the pass list will be admitted to the venue. Gaucho Men's Water Polo Alumni planning to attend the match can RSVP and secure seats by clicking here.
 
WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE GAUCHOS (14-10, 1-1 Big West)
UC Santa Barbara suffered a narrow overtime loss to Princeton in their last game, mounting a fourth-quarter comeback to force the extra periods but falling short by one goal.
 
There were plenty of bright spots for the Gauchos in Tuesday's loss though, including Levi Lentin saving a five-meter penalty, and Finn Genc recording his fourth hat-trick of the season. Lentin now has penalty saves in back-to-back matches, having stopped one last Sunday against Pacific. The Gauchos' goalie ranks fourth in The Big West with 130 stops on the season.
 
In attack, center Dash McFarland continues to lead The Big West in goals, with his total now 72 on the season. McFarland is averaging three goals per game this season, and one more hat-trick would put him in a tie for the tenth-highest scoring season in Gaucho history. Adam Gyenis has provided a potent second option in attack as well; he ranks fourth in conference with a career-high 46 goals this season.
 
The Hungarian also has an impressive 21 assists on the season, although does not crack the conference's top 10 list in that category. Brock Zamanian and Mason Chambliss both do, with 29 and 26 assists putting them fourth and sixth, respectively.
 
SCOUTING THE BRUINS (19-0, 4-0 MPSF)
As the last remaining unbeaten team, UCLA has earned their No. 1 ranking. The Bruins and Gauchos met in the season opener, with UCLA winning, 12-8. Since then, the Bruins have built an impressive resume, playing 12 games against top 10 opponents and winning all of them, outscoring those teams 163-114, including an 11-2 drubbing of then-No. 4 USC on October 14.
 
UCLA's closest game was against No. 4 Pepperdine on September 29, which took three overtimes to decide, 10-9, in the Bruins' favor. UCLA's leading scorer, Rafael Real Vergara, scored twice in that game, but it was Jack Larsen who provided the decisive goal. Larsen is second on the team with 30 goals, behind Real Vergara's 45. Larsen did score a hat-trick in UCLA's most recent match, a 12-10 win over Princeton on Wednesday.
 
Garrett Griggs played every minute of Wednesday's win in goal for the Bruins, making seven saves and earning his 16^th win of the season. Griggs has 145 saves on the season and an 8.39 goals-against average.
 
SCOUTING THE ANTEATERS (12-7, 1-1 Big West)
Like the Gauchos, UC Irvine won their first Big West contest but lost the second and sits at 1-1 in conference play coming into this weekend. Also like the Gauchos, the Anteaters hosted Princeton last week, falling, 11-9. UC Irvine's most recent action was a 23-13 win over Westcliff on Wednesday.
 
The Anteaters are ranked ninth in both the Collegiate Water Polo Association and Association of College Water Polo Coaches polls this week, one spot above the No. 10 Gauchos. They were picked one spot below UC Santa Barbara in The Big West Preseason Poll, fourth to the Gauchos' third.
 
While UC Irvine saw plenty of Big West conference-mates Long Beach State and UC San Diego in their non-conference slate, their path has not crossed with the Gauchos' yet this season. Last time these two teams faced each other, UC Santa Barbara came out on top, 11-6, at Campus Pool. Luke Redoutey, Dash McFarland, Colton Gregory, James Oriskovich, Shane Hoover and Logan Sutter all scored in the game last October.