LOS ANGELES — The No. 17 UC Santa Barbara Men's Water Polo team battled their way through two more tough matches at the Overnght MPSF Invitational on Saturday, seeing another upset bid fall through against No. 8 UC Irvine before gritting out a win over an upstart Claremont-Mudd-Scripps squad. Brock Zamanian scored four goals in the 13-12 loss to the Anteaters, while Charlie Johnson had four in the 13-11 win over the Stags.
 
No. 17 UC SANTA BARBARA 12, No. 8 UC IRVINE 13
It was a great start to the day against the Anteaters, with the Gauchos taking a lead in the first quarter and holding it through halftime. They capitalized on Irvine fouls, with all seven of their first-half goals coming in a 6-on-5 situation or from five-meter penalty shots. It was Zamanian from five meters to get Santa Barbara on the board, then Landon Lassahn on the powerplay as the teams traded goals. Ryan McManigal slammed home another penalty to put the Gauchos ahead, and after Irvine came back to re-take the lead, Johnson responded with a third five-meter shot of the frame to bring Santa Barbara back even. Before the quarter was over, Danilo Dragovic converted a powerplay to make it a 5-4 lead.
 
While the Gauchos' extra-man attack kept working in the second quarter, their defense found another gear, shutting out the Anteaters. With a brick wall up behind him, Sam McKenzie stretched Santa Barbara's lead to 6-4, and Zamanian added another to make it 7-4 at halftime.
 
The teams traded scores coming out of the break, with two from Zamanian answering two from Irvine and making the score 9-6 with 2:45 left in the third. Two Anteater goals cut into that advantage, but Dragovic scored again in the final 30 seconds of the quarter to give Santa Barbara a two-goal edge for the final eight minutes.
 
While the Anteaters were able to chip into that advantage, the Gauchos stayed ahead for the first six minutes of the fourth quarter, with a goal from Luke Redoutey and Dragovic's hat-trick-completing penalty keeping Santa Barbara's noses in front. However, Irvine tied the game just after the two-minute mark, and they took their first lead since the first with just under a minute to go. The Gauchos did get one last powerplay on their final possession but were unable to find a tying goal.
 
No. 17 UC SANTA BARBARA 13, CLAREMONT-MUDD-SCRIPPS 11
In the evening action, Santa Barbara found themselves in a battle with a Claremont-Mudd-Scripps team that has been good enough to be the only Division-III institution receiving votes in the national rankings this week. While they never trailed, they were tied with the Stags at halftime, with a big, seven-goal third quarter pivotal in securing the win.
 
Johnson, Camren Simoncelli and Tyler Roller were on the scoresheet in the first, as the Gauchos got off to a 3-1 lead, but McKenzie was their only scorer in the second as CMS came back and tied the scores at four by halftime.
 
Crucially, Santa Barbara found their offensive groove in the third quarter. Dragovic converted a penalty to start things off, then Lassahn and Kai Ross scored on consecutive possessions to get the Gauchos back up my multiple goals. A 3-0 scoring run from Johnson, Lassahn and then Johnson again really turned the tide, with Santa Barbara's lead at 10-6 afterwards. Oliver Sherwood joined the party with another penalty shot, and the Gauchos had an 11-7 lead heading into the final frame.
 
They had to hold on to that lead tight, despite goals from Ross and Johnson adding some insurance. The Stags scored four times in the quarter, pulling within two goals with 90 seconds remaining, but the Gauchos kept them at bay for long enough to reach the final buzzer.
 
UP NEXT
Santa Barbara has one day left in Los Angeles, as they are set to face No. 15 Santa Clara at 11:30 on Sunday morning from USC's Uytengsu Aquatics Center. The match will be live streamed online by weekend sponsor overnght.com, and live stats will be available at ucsbgauchos.com/MWP_Stats. Sunday also marks one week until the Gauchos' home opener, as they will host No. 9 Pacific at Dos Pueblos High School on Sept. 28.