LONG BEACH, Calif. — The UC Santa Barbara Men's Water Polo team got the job done against Long Beach State and got some help elsewhere on Saturday, securing the No. 2 seed for The Big West Championship later this month. The Gauchos defeated the Beach, 11-10, thanks to hat-tricks from Dash McFarland and Adam Gyenis, while elsewhere UC San Diego handed UC Davis a second loss on the season, giving the Gauchos, Tritons and Aggies identical 3-2 conference records. After The Big West tiebreaker rules were applied, Santa Barbara ended up as the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye.
 
FROM HEAD COACH WOLF WIGO
"The guys were really fired up for the game," Wigo said. "We knew that it was a big game because UC San Diego had beaten Davis earlier in the day, and if we were to win, we would be the second seed and put us in a really good position for the tournament so they gave us some extra motivation. Dash (McFarland) and James (Oriskovich) both gave them a lot of trouble and Levi (Lentin) was amazing in the cage. But overall it was a great team effort, and a lot of guys contributed to the win."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Gauchos jumped in front early, with McFarland scoring 14 seconds into the contest. The Beach would eventually answer, but James Oriskovich dented the twine to give Santa Barbara a 2-1 lead after a quarter. That lead would end up lasting, as the teams matched each other, goal-for-goal in each of the next three frames, scoring four each in the second, three each in the third, and two each in the fourth.
 
Gyenis was responsible for half of the Gauchos' second-quarter tally, while Finn Genc provided arguably the most important goal of the quarter, scoring with four seconds left to put Santa Barbara back up by one heading into halftime. McFarland got the Gaucho offense going in the third, completing his hat-trick, but after the Beach took the lead late in the frame, Luke Bachler and Leo Ohannessian scored in the final minute to re-claim that lead.
 
Mason Chambliss scored first in the fourth, putting the Gauchos up two with six and a half minutes to play. After the Beach answered to get back within one, Gyenis finished his hat-trick with a little less than two minutes to play, re-extending the lead to two. Long Beach got one more goal with 40 seconds left, but Santa Barbara held on to the victory.
 
UP NEXT
The Gauchos have now completed their regular season schedule, meaning next up is their trip to La Jolla for The Big West Championship, hosted by UC San Diego. As the No. 2 seed in the tournament, Santa Barbara will not play until Saturday, November 18, when they will face either No. 3 seed UC San Diego or No. 6 seed Cal State Fullerton at 1 p.m. That match, like every match at The Big West Championship, will be live on ESPN+.