LA JOLLA, Calif. — The No. 15 UC Santa Barbara Men's Water Polo team finished their weekend strong at the Triton Invitational on Sunday, coming from behind to beat No. 20 Navy, 12-7, in the morning and rounding things off with a 16-12 win over Pomona-Pitzer in the afternoon.
Kai Ross led the scoring with five goals across the two games, while freshman
Charlie Johnson racked up a pair in each contest.
No. 15 UC SANTA BARBARA 12, No. 20 NAVY 7
Against the Midshipmen first thing in the morning, the Gauchos found themselves behind, 4-1, after the first quarter, with Ross their only scorer, but they refused to go away. Goals from Johnson and
Brock Zamanian brought Santa Barbara back within one in the second quarter, and the deficit was a manageable 5-3 at halftime.
Crucially, the Gauchos dominated after the break.
Levi Lentin kept Navy off the board for the entire third quarter, helping Santa Barbara go on a 7-0 scoring run that extended into the fourth. Johnson was involved, then
Luke Redoutey scored the tying goal less than three minutes into the second half, after which the Gauchos never trailed again.
Camren Simoncelli gave Santa Barbara the lead they would keep until the end, with Zamanian scoring twice and
Danilo Dragovic converting a penalty to help build the cushion. The Gauchos led, 7-5, heading into the final quarter, and even when the Midshipmen put up back-to-back scores midway through the final frame, it only brought them within three.
Ross scored again to help ice the cake, with
Griffin Pieretti firing home a five-meter penalty to provide the exclamation mark.
No. 15 UC SANTA BARBARA 16, POMONA-PITZER 12
After a back-and-forth first quarter, the Gauchos managed to control the rest of their afternoon fixture against the Sagehens, albeit in an "at arm's length" manner rather than a "cruise control" one. The D-III powerhouses Pomona-Pitzer got on the board first, only to give Santa Barbara penalty shot, which Dragovic dispatched. After the Sagehens re-took the lead, another penalty got the Gauchos back level, this time Ross converting it. In a frantic final minute of the first,
Landon Lassahn gave Santa Barbara a lead, Pomona-Pitzer tied the score, and Simoncelli put the Gauchos back on top all in a matter of 56 seconds.
Sam McKenzie scored the first goal of the second quarter, giving Santa Barbara the first multi-goal lead of the game (for either team), and the Gauchos led the rest of the way from there.
Billy Rankin's goal kept Santa Barbara ahead, 6-5, at halftime and a 4-0 scoring run in the third gave the Gauchos some more breathing space. Johnson was involved in that crucial spree, as was McKenzie,
Sean O'Brien and Pieretti. O'Brien found the back of the cage a second time in the quarter and the Gauchos went into the fourth with an 11-9 lead.
Redoutey scored on the Gauchos' first possession of the final frame, then Rankin, Johnson and Ross each tallied their second goals of the day and O'Brien completed his hat-trick to wrap up the win.
UP NEXT
Santa Barbara will see Pomona-Pitzer again next weekend, as the Sagehens are one of four opponents scheduled for the Gauchos at the Inland Empire Classic, held in Redlands and Claremont, Sept. 5 and 6.
