SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The No. 14 UC Santa Barbara Men's Water Polo team erased a four-goal halftime deficit to force overtime, then shut out No. 10 Long Beach State throughout the extra periods to earn a crucial, 15-13 upset victory. Dom Brown scored four goals and Adam Gyenis tallied three goals plus four assists on the day to lead the Gauchos, while Nico Furneaux and Luke Bachler each scored clutch goals late, with Furneax assisting Bachler on the eventual game-winner.
 
With the result, Santa Barbara leapfrogs Long Beach in The Big West standings, finishing the season as the No. 4 team on the conference, while the Beach end up as the No. 5 seed for The Big West Championship. That seeding means the Gauchos and Beach will see each other again in the first round of the conference tournament, on Nov. 22.
 
FROM HEAD COACH WOLF WIGO
"That was awesome," Wigo said. "We had that tough game with UC Irvine where we played great and I thought we deserved to win but we ended up coming up just short in the fourth overtime; I thought we played just as well today. We had a couple moments, we missed that penalty and lost the momentum, but the team never gave up. We were down four, they fought back, they followed the game plan perfectly in the second half, really executed, made some big shots. Brock (Zamanian) had an amazing shot, Bachler, Dom had a bunch of shots, Nico played amazing, I could go on. It was a team effort, and the guys are fired up and excited for conference. We might be seeing Long Beach there again, so we just have to savor this win but know it's going to be a battle when we play them again."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The game was a dead heat through the first quarter and change, with the teams remaining tied after the first eight minutes of action. Both teams scored on their first possessions, with Gyenis providing the tally for the Gauchos. Brown then put Santa Barbara in front for the first time, 2-1 with his first goal of the day. The Beach tied things back up, but Gyenis converted a five-meter penalty shot to un-tie the scores with four and half minutes left in the opening frame. Long Beach got a goal back before the horn, and they were first to score in the second quarter, taking a 4-3 lead.
 
Brown scored to bring Santa Barbara back on level terms, but the momentum swung the way of Long Beach in a tale of three penalties. The Gauchos were awarded a five-meter attempt with just under five minutes left in the half but missed, only to give up a five-meter penalty on defense the very next possession, which Long Beach scored to re-take the lead. Two minutes later, another Beach penalty shot put the visitors up by two. Long Beach finished the second quarter on a 4-0 scoring run and led, 8-4, at halftime.
 
However, whatever adjustments Santa Barbara Head Coach Wolf Wigo made at halftime worked, as the Gauchos scored the first two goals of the second half, first from Brown and then from Brock Zamanian to make it 8-6. After Long Beach scored, Furneaux took over in the final two minutes of the third quarter, scoring his first goal of the game to bring the Gauchos back within a pair, then creating and finishing a second scoring chance all by himself. The Canadian stole the ball, swam most of the length of the pool, drawing an exclusion while he was at it, then beat the Beach goalie one-on-one to pull Santa Barbara within a goal, 9-8. Long Beach scored with just 11 seconds left in the frame to stop the rally, but Zamanian had the last word, scoring with just three seconds on the clock to keep it just a one-goal margin heading into the fourth quarter.
 
Gyenis was first to score in the final frame of regulation, tying the game at 10, with the teams then trading goals to make the score 12-12 as the minutes ticked away. Marko Ilic scored with just over three to play to give the Gauchos the lead again, but Long Beach equalized a minute and a half later. Santa Barbara had the ball and a man advantage with 12 seconds left, but could not win it in regulation.
 
In overtime, only two players scored, and they were both in blue. For the second time in the game, Furneaux made a great steal to create a breakaway chance, and this time he had Bachler with him for help. Furneaux made the pass and Bachler slammed home the shot. In the second half of overtime, Brown fired home his fourth goal of the day to seal the win.
 
UP NEXT
The Gauchos will play their final regular season game tomorrow, Sunday, Nov. 10 at 1 p.m., when they host No. 4 USC at Dos Pueblos High School. Sunday is Senior Day; Santa Barbara will honor seven graduating players prior to the start of the game.