LA VERNE, Calif. (Sept. 9, 2023) — The UC Santa Barbara Men's Water Polo team stormed through their opening day of competition at the Inland Empire Classic on Saturday, scoring a total of 81 goals en route to wins over Westcliff, Biola and Austin College. The Gauchos set program records for goals scored and margin of victory in their first game, defeating Westcliff 34-2. They tallied 30 goals again in the final game of the day, taking down Austin College, 30-7, with James Oriskovich scoring 10 of the goals himself.
 
NO. 11 UC SANTA BARBARA 34, WESTCLIFF 2
The opening game of the day was close for about five minutes. The Gauchos never trailed, but it was a 3-2 game with just over four minutes left in the first quarter. Then four different Gauchos scored in those final four minutes of the frame and broke the game wide open. Dash McFarland scored five goals before halftime and finished with seven in the game, one of seven UC Santa Barbara players to record a hat-trick. Brock Zamanian, Colton Gregory, James Oriskovich, Adam Gyenis, Finn Genc and Griffin Pieretti each scored three goals, with Will Coons, Henry Allen, Sam McKenzie, Eric Quiggle and Ryan McManigal each also finding the net at least once. Genc and Pieretti's hat-tricks were both the first of their careers. It was McManigal's goal with 2:20 left in the fourth quarter that officially broke the team's single-game scoring record, the 31^st tally of the day.
 
NO. 11 UC SANTA BARBARA 17, BIOLA 12
Immediately after trouncing Westcliff, the Gauchos were right back in the pool to face Biola. UC Santa Barbara opened the scoring and never looked back, leading 13-5 at halftime thanks to yet another first-half hat-trick from McFarland and some solid goalkeeping from Leif Lacy. However, the Eagles rallied in the third quarter, at one point getting within five, but the Gaucho defense stiffened in the fourth quarter, and Oriskovich's goal with 4:10 remaining, his fourth of the game, provided more than enough insurance. McFarland finished with five goals to lead all scorers again, and Allen recorded his second hat-trick in as many games.
 
NO. 11 UC SANTA BARBARA 30, AUSTIN COLLEGE 7
The Gauchos got a chance to rest and re-fuel before hitting the water for their final game of the day, and it paid off. UC Santa Barbara and Austin College traded three-goal runs to open the first quarter, then traded two more goals to find themselves deadlocked at four with two minutes left in the frame. The Gauchos made the most of those two minutes, with goals from McFarland and Oriskovich, plus two from Sean O'Brien before the buzzer sounded to take an 8-4 lead after one. Then, the James Oriskovich Show began. The Santa Barbara native scored twice to complete his hat-trick less than a minute into the second quarter and had five goals by halftime, keying a run of 10 unanswered Gaucho goals, which spanned into the third quarter. His goal tally was up to seven by the end of that frame, and for the grand finale he scored the final three goals of the game, firing home his 10^th with just 10 seconds left on the clock. While Oriskovich carried the load, Logan Sutter did provide his first hat-trick of the season, and a total of 13 Gauchos scored in the game.
 
UP NEXT
UC Santa Barbara will play their final two games of the Inland Empire Classic in Claremont on Sunday, September 10. The Gauchos are set to take on co-hosts Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at 8 a.m. before wrapping up their weekend against Cal Lutheran at 11 a.m. Both the Stags (No. 2) and the Kingsmen (No. 5) are in the top five of the most recent Division III rankings. Both games will be streamed online via the SCIAC Network, and live stats will be available through ucsbgauchos.com.