LA JOLLA, Calif. — The No. 2 seed UC Santa Barbara Men's Water Polo team met No. 1 seed UC Irvine in The Big West Championship game Sunday afternoon, and both teams delivered a dramatic match befitting the excellent tournament that had preceded it. The Anteaters went up early, only for the Gauchos to storm back and take the lead. After a competitive and dramatic second half, UC Irvine claimed the victory, 11-9. Brock Zamanian, Will Coons and Adam Gyenis each scored two goals to jointly lead the Gauchos.
 
FROM HEAD COACH WOLF WIGO
On the Championship match:
"It was a fun game, it had a good championship spirit to it," Wigo said. "(We) went down again early, missed some shot blocks, that was unfortunate, and similar to the UC San Diego game we dug a hole, but we fought back, made a few good adjustments, we had a big run there, scored five in a row, took the lead, 7-6, then it was (8-7) heading into the fourth. The team really came together and played well, and unfortunately our top scorer of the tournament was rolled from the game on (I thought) a very questionable call. That really affected the fourth quarter, which is sad, I wish we could have lost the game on equal terms and without a controversial call, but that's not how it happened. Anyway, we still could have won the game, and Irvine played a great game, and they showed a lot of effort, they made some strong goals in the fourth quarter, so got to give them a lot of credit, and we'll keep our heads up and look forward to next year."
 
On the team's graduating seniors potentially playing their final competitive games:
"The seniors, they did a great job all season long, they played with a lot of heart in that last game, you can tell they all really wanted to win," Wigo said. "You know, for some people, it's the last competitive water polo game they'll ever play. Other guys might go on to play a little longer, but a lot of times, in the U.S., there's no professional league here so you have to go abroad if you want to keep playing. It's a bummer, but I think it will be a good memory because like I said, the team can hold their heads high, we played a great game. It was very competitive and against a strong team, we ended up on the short end of it."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Anteaters and Gauchos scored their first goals of the day in that order, with Mason Chambliss firing home Santa Barbara's opener for a second consecutive game. However, like in Saturday's semifinal, the Gauchos found themselves down three goals after the first quarter, as UC Irvine ended the first frame on a 3-0 run.
 
Henry Allen cut into that lead to open the second quarter, but UCI drew and converted its second five-meter penalty of the day on their very next possession to go back up by three. With just over a minute and a half left in the first half and now down 6-2, the Gauchos thought they had a goal to get back in the game, only for it to be waved off for an offensive foul. Santa Barbara dented the twine on their very next possession, and this one counted, with Coons firing home. He got the ball again before halftime and scored his second goal in as many possessions, cutting the Anteater lead to two and giving the Gauchos all of the momentum heading into halftime.
 
Coming out of the break, Santa Barbara looked like they were going to take control of the contest and they did, with Zamanian causing all sorts of issues for UC Irvine's defense. He scored the first goal of the second half, then drew an exclusion the next time down, with Gyenis tying the game after the resulting penalty. Shortly after, Zamanian drew a five-meter penalty, which Gyenis converted to give Santa Barbara their first lead of the day.
 
The lead was short-lived, as UCI tied the game right back up, then Levi Lentin and Anteater goalie Jacob Pyle traded point-blank saves to keep it tied at seven. Unfortunately for the Gauchos, UCI re-took the lead with 30 seconds left in the third quarter, and right before the buzzer, Gyenis was ejected from the game for an act of misconduct.
 
Even without Gyenis, the Gauchos did their best to keep pace with the top-seeded Anteaters as the fourth quarter began like a boxing match, with both teams trading blows. Shane Hoover's goal was sandwiched between a pair of Anteater scores, giving UCI a two-goal lead, which they held for most of the period.
 
Zamanian scored again with 3:26 left to play to bring the Gauchos back within one, and he nearly tied the game with just over a minute left. His floating attempt beat the goalkeeper but bounced off the crossbar. In a cruel twist of fate, the Anteaters' fired a shot in off the crossbar at the other end, just barely crossing the goal line to essentially seal victory. Zamanian and Chambliss both had shots denied by tournament MVP Pyle in the game's final seconds.