IRVINE, Calif. — The No. 19 UC Santa Barbara Women's Water Polo team (13-10, 0-3 Big West) returns to the pool with a road trip to Orange County, traveling to face No. 7 UC Irvine (12-9, 3-0 Big West) on Friday. The Gauchos are looking to snap a three-game losing streak and put an end to the Anteaters' eight-game winning streak.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Santa Barbara has had nearly three weeks to regroup after their last game, a heartbreaking golden-goal overtime defeat against UC Davis. The Gauchos had rallied late with two fourth-quarter goals from Imani Clemons to force the extra periods, their fourth overtime game of the season, and they made another rally within overtime itself with two goals from Annie Kuester to force the golden-goal action. Clemons and Kuester's clutch contributions brought their goal tallies to 36 and 42 on the season, respectively, with Kuester the leading scorer on the team. Clemons has scored eight of her 36 goals in the last three games, giving her the Gauchos' highest goal tally in conference contests this season. Bella Mady was held scoreless against the Aggies, ending a stretch of seven straight games with a goal for the freshman, who has 40 goals already in her rookie campaign.
 
SCOUTING THE ANTEATERS
In contrast to Santa Barbara, UC Irvine comes into Friday's action having won eight straight games, including a 20-9 win over then-No. 22 Brown on Tuesday. The Anteaters' last loss was on Feb. 28, when they fell one goal short against LMU, a team that the Gauchos beat earlier this season. In the eight games since, Irvine has only played one team ranked higher than Santa Barbara: then-No. 9 UC San Diego, though they won that game convincingly, 16-11. The Anteaters' other seven opponents on this stretch: La Salle, then-No. 20 San Diego State, Cal State Monterey Bay, Cal State Fullerton, Concordia Irvine, No. 23 CSUN and No. 22 Brown.
 
After Irvine's wins over Cal State Fullerton and UC San Diego, their star attacker, Lauren Hett, was named Big West Player of the Week for a second time this season. Hett leads the Anteaters with 39 goals and has 20 assists to go with them; averaging 3.3 points per game, she ranks seventh in the conference, just ahead of Santa Barbara's Juju Amaral, who averages 2.9 points a contest. Hett also ranks seventh in the conference for goals per game, hitting the back of the net an average of 2.4 times per contest. That rate puts her just ahead of teammate Nioka Thomas, who ranks ninth in the conference, averaging 2.0 goals a game.
 
That dynamic duo of Hett and Thomas are up against Santa Barbara goalkeeper Ava Donleavy, the best netminder they will have faced so far in conference play. Donleavy ranks second in The Big West with a 9.43 goals-against average, with only Hawai'i's goalie ahead of her. Donleavy also ranks third in the conference in save percentage; the only other Big West goalie in the top three of both stats plays for Long Beach State. Conversely, goalkeeping appears to be a weak point of Irvine's. Anteater goalie Rachel Kirchner ranks 10^th in the conference with a .309 save percentage and ninth with a 13.08 goals-against average, making her the lowest-ranked goalkeeper in both categories that the Gauchos have faced in Big West action.
 
WHEN AND WHERE TO WATCH
Santa Barbara and UC Irvine will get underway at 12 noon on Friday from the Anteater Aquatics Complex in Irvine, where attendance is free and open until the venue's capacity is reached. For fans following from afar, the game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with live stats available at ucsbgauchos.com/WWPLiveStats.