SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The No. 17 UC Santa Barbara Men's Water Polo team hits home water for the first time this season on Sunday, welcoming No. 10 Pacific to town for a noon match. Gaucho goalie Levi Lentin enters the weekend just four saves shy of his 500^th in Blue and Gold.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Lentin brought in a decent haul of saves last weekend, making 24 stops across three games in Los Angeles, but it was a frustrating weekend for Santa Barbara as every close result went their opponents' way. After leading No. 2 California at halftime, the Gauchos lost, 16-14. Against then-No. 8 UC Irvine the next day, the Gauchos again had a halftime lead but lost, 13-12. And on Sunday, the Gauchos lost to No. 16 Santa Clara, 11-10. Santa Barbara did pick up a win, against a Claremont-Mudd-Scripps team that entered the national rankings at No. 20 this week, but even that was a battle, the Gauchos having to fend off a late rally for the 13-11 victory.
 
GAUCHOS TO KNOW
Lentin has once again been one of the top goalies in The Big West, entering the weekend ranked second in the conference for goals-against average and third in total saves.
In the field ahead of him, this year's Santa Barbara attack is a balanced one, with three Gauchos among The Big West's top five goal-scorers. Danilo Dragovic leads the squad and ranks second in the conference with 38 tallies, 10 of which came last weekend, while Sam McKenzie is just behind him with 32, good for third in the conference. Freshman Charlie Johnson has been phenomenal in his rookie season and has 31 goals to his name, along with a team-high 16 assists.
Veteran Brock Zamanian has been potent as well, with his 25 goals on the season adding a fourth head to Santa Barbara's attacking monster. Redshirt junior Billy Rankin is also enjoying a breakout season with 20 goals already, obliterating his previous career high.
 
SCOUTING THE TIGERS
Pacific was at home last weekend, hosting exhibition matches against Team China – Shanghai and American River College, winning both. They will host No. 3 USC on Friday before making the trip down to Santa Barbara. That matchup against the Trojans will be just the ninth official game of the season for Pacific (and 13^th including exhibitions), whereas Santa Barbara has already played 20. In the Tigers' last official match, they fell to Cal, 17-9, in Stockton.
Unlike the Gauchos, the Tigers' attack has a clear focal point: freshmen Apostolos Georgaras and Borisz Kasa-Gal, who have a combined 60 of the team's 133 goals so far this season, 35 for Georgaras and 25 for Kasa-Gal. Georgaras hung six on Cal and seven on Cal Lutheran earlier this season, while Kasa-Gal dropped seven on LIU and five on then-No. 3 Fordham in back-to-back matches.
However, if the Gauchos can shut those two down, Pacific has just one other player with 10 or more goals this year. The Tigers' defense is also largely untested. They have played just three ranked opponents to this point, two of whom were the No. 3 team in the country at the time. In an exhibition match against Brown, who occupied the No. 17 spot that now belongs to Santa Barbara, Pacific yielded 15 goals and only won because they scored 23 themselves.  
 
WHEN AND WHERE TO WATCH
The Gauchos and Tigers will hit the water at 12 noon from Dos Pueblos High School on Sunday. Admission is free and open until the venue's capacity is reached, and fans are free to park on campus. The match will also be broadcast live on ESPN+ with live stats available at ucsbgauchos.com.