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University of California, Santa Barbara

Finn Genc vs Pepperdine
12
Cal State Fullerton CSF (4-5)
14
Winner UC Santa Barbara UCSB (9-3)
Cal State Fullerton CSF
(4-5)
12
Final
14
UC Santa Barbara UCSB
(9-3)
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Cal State Fullerton CSF 1 3 3 5 12
UC Santa Barbara UCSB 5 4 2 3 14

Game Recap: Men's Water Polo |

Genc Tallies Three as Gauchos Fend Off Titans

LOS ANGELES — The No. 13 UC Santa Barbara Men's Water Polo team made an early lead last on Friday, defeating Cal State Fullerton, 14-12, in the opening match of the Big West-WCC Challenge. Finn Genc scored a team-high three goals for the Gauchos, including two in the fourth quarter to help Santa Barbara stay ahead of the rallying Titans. Dom Brown, Brock Zamanian, Adam Gyenis and Danilo Dragovic each had two-goal games as well.
 
FROM HEAD COACH WOLF WIGO
"We started out really strong and built a solid lead, which is what we were looking to do," Wigo said. "It was nice to have a strong win against a conference opponent that we will see later in the year in The Big West."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Gauchos flew out of the gates with two goals in two minutes and four unanswered to start the game. Even after Fullerton tallied their first score of the afternoon, Luke Bachler scored less than a minute later to re-establish Santa Barbara's four-goal lead.
 
Gyenis scored inside the first minute of the second quarter to stretch the advantage to five, and that was the margin the Gauchos would lead by at the half. Santa Barbara did lead by as many as six after goals from Brown and Genc, but the Titans answered with a pair of powerplay goals. It was Zamanian scoring with one second remaining at the half that put the Gauchos back up by five.
 
Cal State Fullerton rallied back in the second half, but Santa Barbara stayed ahead the whole time. Hayes Beamon and Landon Lassahn each scored in the third quarter to make the score 11-7 heading into the fourth. In the final frame, Genc came up big with back-to-back goals, ending a 3-0 Titan scoring run and giving Santa Barbara some cushion in the form of a 13-10 lead. Gyenis scored the Gauchos' 14th late on, securing the two-goal victory.  
 
UP NEXT
Santa Barbara will conclude this, the first of two Big West-WCC Challenge events, with a pair of games on Saturday in Los Angeles. The Gauchos will take on No. 4 Pepperdine at 10:30 a.m. and No. 15 Loyola Marymount at 3 p.m. from the Burns Center. Admission to both matches is free, and the afternoon contest against the Lions will be live on ESPN+.
 
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