SAN JOSE, Calif. — The No. 12 UC Santa Barbara Men's Water polo team heads to San Jose for a pair of games on Saturday, taking on No. 11 San Jose State and No. 15 Santa Clara in the second Big West-WCC Challenge event of the year. The Gauchos went 2-1 at the first Big West-WCC Challenge in Los Angeles, with wins over Cal State Fullerton and then-No. 15 LMU.
 
WHEN AND WHERE TO WATCH
Both of Saturday's matches will be at San Jose State's SRAC Pool in San Jose, with the Gauchos opening their day against the hosting Spartans at 9 a.m. Santa Barbara will then face the Santa Clara Broncos at 4 p.m. that afternoon.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Gauchos head north after going 2-1 last week, defeating Cal Lutheran and Westcliff comfortably after a second meeting of the year with No. 1 UCLA. Adam Gyenis and Sam McKenzie both scored twice against the top-ranked Bruins, and Marko Ilic marked his Gaucho debut with a goal in that match.
 
GAUCHOS TO KNOW
Luke Bachler scored hat-tricks against both Cal Lutheran and Westcliff on Saturday, continuing what has been a strong sophomore season, having scored 28 goals. Redshirt freshman Dom Brown is having a strong second year in Santa Barbara too, tallying 32 goals in his first collegiate campaign. True freshman Danilo Dragovic rounds out a trifecta of young guns with 29 goals and 24 assists.
 
Tied with Dragovic for second on the team in assists is senior Adam Gyenis, who also has 34 goals on the year, also second on the team. Ahead of him is only Brock Zamanian, who has already surpassed his goal total and matched assist tally from 2023, with 36 and 34.
 
SCOUTING THE SPARTANS
San Jose State (4-1) comes into the weekend on a four-game winning streak after losing their season opener against California. Their most recent action came in a win over Santa Clara in triple overtime back on Sept. 20.
 
Senior Jamie Steingraf scored the game-winning goal for the Spartans against the Broncos in that game, his fifth of the contest. When San Jose State and Santa Barbara met last year, Steingraf allowed nine goals to the Gauchos as the Spartans' goalie.
 
SCOUTING THE BRONCOS
Santa Clara (6-2) comes into the weekend after an upset win over then-No. 13 UC Davis in Davis last weekend, and the Broncos will face the Aggies again on Saturday before taking on the Gauchos.
 
Senior attacker Zach Fales is already in the 20-20 club for the Broncos, leading the team with 24 goals and 21 assists. Freshman Riccardo De Simon is one of two Broncos with 16 goals, the second-most behind Fales. De Simon has already earned the West Coast Conference Newcomer of the Week Award twice this season, including this week.
 
UP NEXT
UC Santa Barbara begins conference play next weekend in Orange County, visiting Cal State Fullerton on Oct. 12. The Gauchos will hit the water for their first-ever visit to the new Titan Aquatics Center at 5 p.m. Santa Barbara's first home game of the season is a week later, with the Gauchos hosting UC Davis at Dos Pueblos High School on Oct. 19.