SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The No. 11 UC Santa Barbara Men's Water Polo team is just over a week away from beginning their 19^th season under 2023 Big West Coach of the Year Wolf Wigo. The Gauchos finished as runners-up in The Big West Championship last season and will look to go one step further in 2024.
 
"After last year, we set a goal that we want to win the conference," said Adam Gyenis, one of the Gauchos' top returning players. "We still have that hunger to do it this year … to go to the NCAA Tournament and try our best there, so that's our goal, and I expect us to do that and to achieve that. The chemistry is really good in the team, we are all pushing each other … I really think we can do it this year."
 
The season begins in La Jolla, Sept. 7 and 8 at the Triton Invitational, where Santa Barbara will face Concordia Irvine, Claremont-Mudd Scripps, UC Merced, and No. 1 UCLA. Third-year Gaucho Luke Redoutey has his eyes set on that season-opening matchup against the Bruins.
 
"Really excited for the UCLA game, first game of the season at Triton Invite," Redoutey said. "Historically we have always played a really tight game with them, and I think we can upset them this year, which would really set a precedent for the year."
 
The Gauchos won't begin Big West play until October, but they have already circled those conference dates on their calendar.
 
"Any time we play a team in the conference, we're going to bring a different intensity and level," said Levi Lentin, another returning star. "We saw how last year how good it is to be a top seed in the conference, and I know that that along with the rivalries are going to really make us step it up a level. The UC San Diego game proved to be crucial for us last year, and it would be great to beat Long Beach and beat UC Davis like we've been doing in summer."
 
GOALKEEPERS
The redshirt junior Lentin returns to guard the cage for the Gauchos after a career year in 2023 that saw him earn All-Big West Second Team honors. The La Jolla native played in 24 games for Santa Barbara, making 188 saves on the season. That included a career-best 14-save performance in the Gauchos' Big West Semifinal victory over UC San Diego. Lentin was named to the 2024 All-Big West Preseason Team ahead of this season.
 
Leif Lacy was Lentin's deputy in 2023 and returns for 2024. He featured in 14 games and won all six of his decisions last year. Leif's younger brother, Haakon Lacy, joins the goalkeeping corps as well. The younger Lacy brother was an All-MCAL First Teamer at Archie Williams High School and won back-to-back Pan America Games titles with the USA Cadet and Youth National Teams in 2023 and 2024.
 
Santa Barbara native Wyatt Pieretti is also back, giving the Gauchos four options at the goalkeeper position. He made 24 saves to just 20 goals allowed in seven games last season.
 
ATTACKERS
The biggest name returning for the 2024 Gauchos is the senior Gyenis, who is poised to be Santa Barbara's main attacking threat this season. The Hungarian scored a career-high 64 goals in 2024, adding 24 assists for a team-high 88 points and an All-Big West First Team selection. He comes into the season riding an 18-game scoring streak from the end of last season that included a six-goal outburst in The Big West Semifinal. Brock Zamanian will look to form a dynamic duo with Gyenis; no Gaucho assisted more goals than 30-30 club member Zamanian last year, who paired his 34 helpers with a 30-goal haul for himself in 2023. Finn Genc was the Gauchos' best freshman in 2024, scoring 30 goals of his own en route to a Big West All-Freshman Team selection.
 
The list of returning attackers also includes Will Coons, Hayes Beamon, Sean O'Brien, Leo Ohannessian, Ryan McManigal, Luke Bachler, Griffin Pieretti and Billy Rankin. Bachler, McManigal and Pieretti all tallied double-digit goals in 2023.
 
The Gauchos' incoming freshman class includes a trio of attackers: Tyler Roller, Oliver Sherwood and Danilo Dragovic. Roller was a two-time All-American at Bellarmine College Prep in the Bay Area, and Sherwood was a two-time CIF Finalist with Miramonte High School. The Montenegrin Dragovic adds an international flavor, as does British Columbia native Nico Furneax, who redshirted last season. Furneaux attended Buena High School in Ventura, where he holds the career goals record.
 
"This year, we've had a lot of young guys step up into really a mature role," Lentin said of the Gauchos' attacking group. "It really feels like we have one group, and that's to the credit of these younger guys … A lot of new attackers are ready to come in and make an impact and it's all kudos to them for coming in, working hard and learning the system, really becoming a cohesive unit with the guys that were making big plays last year."
 
CENTERS
If Gyenis is the biggest returning name for the Gauchos, the biggest departing one is Dash McFarland, Santa Barbara's All-American center and scorer of 82 goals in 2023. To fill that gap, the Gauchos have three big but young centers on the roster: redshirt freshman Dom Brown plus true freshmen Kai Ross and Camren Simoncelli. While none have played a minute of collegiate water polo, all three have impressive resumes. The 6-foot-6 Brown was a 2022 Junior Olympics All-American at De La Salle High School, while 6-foot-7 Ross holds his high school's single-season goal record with 118 in 10 games. The 6-foot-5 Simoncelli also holds a record at his high school, drawing the most exclusions of any Corona Del Mar water polo player.
 
UTILITY PLAYERS
The Gauchos' collection of utility players can help fill the gap at center as well, with the Australian Sam McKenzie the most veteran of that group. McKenzie played in all 30 games for the Gauchos in 2023, tallying double-digit goals and assist. His best play came on defense, making the game-clinching stop in The Big West Semifinal against UC San Diego. Redoutey named McKenzie as one of the Gauchos who most impressed him in the team's offseason workouts.
 
Kyle Rosenblatt only played five games last year but flashed his skill with a four-assist game against UC Merced. Landon Lassahn redshirted the 2023 campaign; he was league MVP in his senior year at Santa Ynez High School.
 
DEFENDERS
Santa Barbara's group of two-meter defenders is a veteran one, with Redoutey and Shane Hoover entering their third and fifth seasons as Gauchos, respectively. Both men showed their capability to contribute at both ends of the pool last season; Hoover tallied double-digit goals and assists while playing in all 30 games, and Redoutey posted eight and 14 while missing just one contest. Santa Barbara also adds the 6-foot-5 Serbian Marko Ilic to that corps. The 23-year-old brings a wealth of experience, including with his national team, into his first year in Santa Barbara.