SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The No. 16 UC Santa Barbara Men's Water Polo team exacted a measure of revenge on No. 15 Santa Clara, paying the Broncos back for an earlier defeat with a 14-10 win on Friday afternoon. Brock Zamanian and Danilo Dragovic continued to be a dynamic duo in attack, with three goals each. Levi Lentin made 10 saves in the Gaucho goal as the Blue and Gold took an early lead and made it stick over the 32 minutes.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Santa Barbara scored on its first possession, thanks to Luke Redoutey, but were pegged back by two consecutive Bronco goals, putting the hosts ahead, 2-1. However, that was the last time the Gauchos would trail all afternoon. Zamanian converted a 6-on-5 opportunity to kick-start a 4-0 run for Santa Barbara, with goals from Redoutey, Camren Simoncelli and Landon Lassahn giving the Gauchos a 5-2 edge at the end of the first quarter.
 
Despite a quiet second quarter, Charlie Johnson slotted home a five-meter penalty to help keep Santa Barbara ahead at halftime, the Gauchos owning a 6-4 lead. That margin narrowed to 6-5 early in the third quarter, but Kai Ross and Zamanian scored to help bring Santa Barbara's cushion back. The Broncos scored next, but again the Gauchos answered one goal with two of their own, from Zamanian and then Dragovic on a penalty shot. Entering the final eight minutes of the match, Santa Barbara held a 10-6 advantage.
 
Each team scored four times in the fourth quarter, which suited the Gauchos just fine. Billy Rankin's goal with 2:25 left to play essentially iced the game, stopping a potential Bronco run after the hosts had scored two penalty shots in the span of a minute. Santa Clara did get another goal to make the score 12-10 with just under two minutes to play, but the Gaucho defense held its ground. Dragovic had scored his second of the day earlier in the quarter and got to finish his hat trick with 16 seconds left to put the cherry on top of the win, though Ryan McManigal made it two cherries by putting the ball in the back of an empty net with seven seconds on the clock after a very late Bronco turnover.
 
UP NEXT
The Gauchos will stay in the Bay for a doubleheader on Saturday, taking on at 9 a.m. No. 11 LMU and No. 6 San Jose State at 4:30 p.m. Both matches will have live stats available at ucsbgauchos.com/MWP_Stats.