CLAREMONT, Calif. — The No. 18 UC Santa Barbara Men's Water Polo team completed their weekend at the Inland Empire Classic with two wins on Saturday, going 4-0 across the two-day event. The Gauchos beat Pomona-Pitzer for the second time in as many weekends, 13-8, to kick off the day, then took care of business against Concordia Irvine, 11-9, in the afternoon.
 
No. 18 UC SANTA BARBARA 13, POMONA-PITZER 8
Charlie Johnson led the way for Santa Barbara in the day's opening action, tallying four goals in the game. He scored the first two of the day, giving the Gauchos a lead they would never relinquish. Griffin Pieretti, fresh off a 15-point day on Friday, was in the goals again in the first quarter, and Danilo Dragovic made it a 4-2 lead for Santa Barbara at the first horn. Kai Ross scored a pair in the second, and Johnson completed his hat-trick in that quarter to extend the Gauchos' lead to 7-3 at halftime.
 
Pomona-Pitzer got a few goals back in the third quarter, but Santa Barbara turned the offense back up in the final frame. Dragovic scored again in the frame, as did Johnson, with Landon Lassahn and Camren Simoncelli on the scoresheet as well. Billy Rankin collected his second goal of the game in the final minute.
 
No. 18 UC SANTA BARBARA 11, CONCORDIA IRVINE 9
Things were less straightforward in the afternoon game, as the Gauchos had to buckle down and grind out the win against the Golden Eagles. Sam McKenzie and Ross scored to give Santa Barbara an early lead, but it was 3-3 at the end of the first quarter. A pair of penalties gave Concordia a two-goal lead in the second quarter, but the Gauchos fought back to keep the score tied at halftime. Simoncelli stopped a Golden Eagles scoring run, then Johnson and Dragovic both scored in the final 90 seconds of the frame. At the half, the scores were tied at six.
 
Coming out of the break, a regrouped Santa Barbara side took the lead for good in the third quarter. Dragovic twice scored to give the Blue and Gold the lead, but Concordia answered back each time. Instead, it was Luke Redoutey to put the Gauchos ahead for good. He scored the final two goals of the quarter, and Santa Barbara headed to the fourth with a 10-8 lead. Ross scored to stretch the lead to 11-8 with six minutes left to play. The Golden Eagles scored shortly afterwards to cut the lead to two, but the Gaucho defense and goalkeeper Levi Lentin kept them out for the remaining 5:46 to secure the win. Lentin finished the game with eight saves. He tallied 10 in the morning game.
 
UP NEXT
Santa Barbara continues with their packed non-conference schedule next week, playing six games over the course of three days. The Gauchos will face Whittier and Pepperdine in Malibu on Thursday, Sept. 11, then Stanford and Cal Lutheran in Thousand Oaks on Friday and LMU and Brown in Los Angeles on Saturday.