SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The No. 14 UC Santa Barbara Men's Water Polo team out-scored No. 4 USC over the final three quarters of their game on Sunday, but it was not enough to erase their deficit from the first quarter of play and the Gauchos fell, 12-8. Brock Zamanian and Luke Bachler both scored twice to lead the Santa Barbara offense.
 
Sunday was Senior Day for the Gauchos, as UC Santa Barbara honored graduating student-athletes Leif Lacy, Will Coons, Hayes Beamon, Shane Hoover, Adam Gyenis, Marko Ilic and Leo Ohannessian prior to the match.
 
FROM HEAD COACH WOLF WIGO
"We were just completely different in the first few minutes than the last 29 minutes," Wigo said of his team's performance. "I do like the fact that we fought hard, we won quarters at the end of the game and we played really well. That's a definite positive, these guys are a strong team, they had their top guys in, they didn't put their bench in, and they were scared. I saw their coach looking at the board when it was 10-8, they were nervous. Unfortunately, we didn't finish the comeback, but we were in the game late, and that was important. It's also important that we finished strong to feel confident going into the conference tournament."
 
"All the seniors really made a positive impact on the team over the four or five years they were here. We'll definitely miss them, and they've got one last hurrah at the conference tournament. This isn't the end for them."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Things did not start well for the Gauchos, as Santa Barbara found themselves down, 4-0, just three minutes into the game. Ilic scored to break the Trojans' scoring run, but just inside the four-minute mark, USC had grown their lead to 6-1. However, seconds later, the Gauchos manufactured the turning point. Gyenis found Kai Ross at the back post and the freshman slammed home the goal with the man advantage. Beginning with Ross' goal, the Gauchos out-scored USC 7-6 over the final 27 minutes of water polo on Sunday.
 
Santa Barbara's best quarter was the second, when they held the Trojans to just one goal while scoring three themselves to cut the lead to a manageable 8-5 scoreline at halftime. Gyenis scored on a five-meter penalty shot to open the second quarter, then Bachler scored twice in the final minute and change before the halftime interval.
 
In the third quarter, Zamanian drew and converted his own five-meter penalty for a third consecutive Gaucho goal, and it was two more minutes before the Trojans managed to get back on the scoresheet. Zamanian scored his second of the quarter to answer that USC goal and keep the margin at two. USC scored again, but Gyenis made the score 10-8 Trojans with just four seconds left in the frame.
 
However, the Gauchos' momentum ran out in the fourth quarter, giving up two goals without scoring any themselves for a final score of 12-8 in favor of USC.
 
UP NEXT
Santa Barbara will head to Davis to begin The Big West Championship for their next game. The Gauchos are on track to meet Long Beach State in the opening round on Nov. 22 from the Schaal Aquatics Center on the campus of UC Davis. Check ucsbgauchos.com for the most up-to-date schedule information.