SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The No. 16 UC Santa Barbara Men's Water Polo team played its first home game of the season on Saturday, dueling No. 12 UC Davis in a back-and-forth affair. The Gauchos came from behind twice, erasing a 4-1 deficit and an 8-6 deficit but fell just short of completing the comeback, suffering a 10-9 defeat. Adam Gyenis led the Santa Barbara attack with three goals and two assists on the day.
 
FROM HEAD COACH WOLF WIGO
"We had a slow start, we gave up some goals out of center that we didn't want to and that was unfortunate, but we definitely battled back," Wigo said. "I thought we were in a really good place at 6-6, but then two offensives led to counter goals that put us in another hole. We crawled out of it, we tied it up, so a lot of resilience, I thought the team played a really good game (except for) two two-minute pockets. Unfortunately, you've gotta play the whole game to win these kinds of games. Davis is a great team and we were right there, but unfortunately, we came out on the losing side of it."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
After neither team was able to score in the first three minutes of action, the visitors broke through first on Saturday, forcing the Gauchos to play from behind. Finn Genc put Santa Barbara on the board with a powerplay goal to stop the Aggies' run, but Davis scored twice more before the horn to lead, 4-1, after the first period.
 
The Gauchos turned the game around in the second quarter, capitalizing on three five-meter penalties to outscore the Aggies, 4-2, in the frame and pull within one at halftime. Gyenis scored a pair of the penalty shots, with Luke Bachler converting the third, while Ryan McManigal provided the Gauchos' fourth goal of the frame from open play.
 
The Gauchos were the first team to score after halftime, with Danilo Dragovic scoring to tie the game at 6-6, but that was Santa Barbara's only score of the quarter, while Davis tallied twice to take the lead again. In the fourth, Gyenis converted his third five-meter penalty shot of the day, then Shane Hoover tied the game at 8-8 with just under four minutes left to play. But again, the Aggies took a two-goal lead. While Sam McKenzie scored just before the two-minute mark, the Gauchos ran out of time to climb out of the hole.
 
UP NEXT
Santa Barbara remains at home and will host Fordham in a mid-week contest on Tuesday, Oct. 22 from Dos Pueblos High School. The Gauchos and Rams will hit the water at 12 noon for their first ever meeting.