LA JOLLA, Calif. — The No. 14 UC Santa Barbara Men's Water Polo team hits the road for the final time in the regular season on Friday, paying a visit to No. 13 UC San Diego for a matchup under the lights. The last time the Gauchos and Tritons got together in La Jolla, they delivered an instant-classic overtime match in the 2023 Big West Semifinal, where Santa Barbara held off UC San Diego, 13-11.
 
WHEN AND WHERE TO WATCH
The Gauchos and Tritons will get underway at 6 p.m. on Friday at the Canyonview Aquatic Center in La Jolla. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ with live stats available through ucsbgauchos.com.
 
LAST TIME OUT
UC Santa Barbara Head Coach Wolf Wigo said his team played its best game of the season in their last contest, though they ultimately fell to now-No. 8 UC Irvine on a golden goal in the third overtime. Goalkeeper Levi Lentin made a career-high 17 saves in that contest, including stopping both of the five-meter penalty shots he faced. Dom Brown and Danilo Dragovic each scored clutch goals to keep the Gauchos alive late in the game as well.
 
GAUCHOS TO KNOW
Lentin's recent form and his career record against UC San Diego would suggest he could very well be unbeatable on Friday night. The La Jolla native made double-digit saves in each of the Gauchos' last two games and tallied double-digit stops in each of the Gauchos' three meetings with his hometown team in 2023. He also set his last two career-high save totals in the last two meetings with UC San Diego.
 
Adam Gyenis joined Lentin in tormenting the Tritons last season, tallying 14 goals over the three games between these two teams in 2023. Gyenis has been one of the focal points of the Santa Barbara attack this season, taking more shots than any other Gaucho and scoring more goals (41) than any Gaucho not named Brock Zamanian, who has 46. Gyenis is also third on the team with 31 assists, behind Zamanian's 37.
 
Saturday's clutch goal-scorers Brown and Dragovic have both been pivotal in their rookie seasons, with the redshirt freshman Brown's 41 goals equaling Gyenis for second on the team and the true freshman Dragovic putting up 33 goals and 32 assists.
 
SCOUTING THE TRITONS
UC San Diego (13-10, 1-2 Big West) comes into Friday night's matchup with a very similar resume to the Gauchos', having also suffered a golden-goal overtime defeat in their last conference contest, 13-12 against Long Beach State. Also like the Gauchos, the Tritons are yet to upset a higher-ranked opponent this season, with both squads' highest-ranked victories coming against at-the-time No. 15 Loyola Marymount.
 
Sophomore attacker Landon Akerstrom has been the Tritons' go-to guy in the attack this year, racking up 53 goals and a Big West Player of the Week nod. He put a whopping six goals past California earlier this season and has not been held scoreless since Sept. 14. However, he managed just three goals in as many meetings with the Gauchos last season.
 
Lucas Romaguera and Bennett Axline are the only other Tritons with more than 30 goals this year, and both of them did dish out some pain against Santa Barbara in 2023. Over last season's three meetings, Romaguera and Axline combined to score 11 goals.
 
UP NEXT
The Gauchos will return to Santa Barbara next weekend for their Big West and regular-season finales, hosting No. 11 Long Beach State and No. 2 USC at Santa Barbara High School on Nov. 9 and 10. Start time is set for 12 noon in both of those matches, which will also be live on ESPN+ with live stats available through ucsbgauchos.com.