SAN JOSE, Calif. — The No. 13 UC Santa Barbara and its four-game winning streak head north for one a last weekend of non-conference action, playing a pair of games at San Jose State's SRAC Pool on Saturday. The Gauchos will meet the hosting No. 9 Spartans Saturday morning, then take on No. 20 Saint Mary's in afternoon action.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Gauchos swept through the U.S. Air Force Academy's Rare Air Challenge in Colorado last weekend, scoring 20 or more goals in all four of its wins and ending the weekend with a new program record, 35 tallies in one game, against Occidental. Hayden Tully had the best weekend of his rookie season, scoring 11 goals, while Charlie Johnson was not far behind with 10 across the four games, plus six assists. Finn Genc was also among the highest-volume scorers in Blue and Gold, putting home nine, while Luigi Canepa scored eight goals without even being involved in one of the games. On Monday, Canepa was named to the 20-man Cutino Award Watch List, the only freshman among the honorees.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
No. 9 San Jose State enters the weekend with a 6-7 record and a list of results that appears to be a tale of two teams, though their form is certainly trending upwards. The Spartans enter the weekend after beating UC Merced, 20-10, at home last weekend, having been tested at the MPSF Invitational in Stanford the weekend prior. San Jose State picked up its best win of the season on The Farm, upsetting Princeton, 14-12, but finished that same weekend with a rather ignominious overtime defeat to UC Irvine after letting a late lead slip. Like the Gauchos, the Spartans have a representative on the Cutino Award Watch List: their sophomore utility man Sam Keightley.
 
No. 20 Saint Mary's has gone 5-6 since their first-ever game and meeting with the Gauchos on opening day, earning Division-I wins over Bucknell, Mercyhurst, Wagner and Mount St. Mary's, all of them comfortable. The Gaels enter the weekend after getting what one could kindly call valuable experience in the form of a 22-8 loss at California last Thursday, and they will play the hosting Spartans immediately before their rematch with the Gauchos. Harry Irwin scored his team's first-ever goal when Saint Mary's last met Santa Barbara; he now ranks fifth on the squad with 11. Canadian freshman Leo Hachem leads the Gaels in scoring with 26 goals, while fellow rookie Domenico Barilla, from Italy, is the team's top playmaker, with 16 assists. Hachem scored four and assisted two against the Gauchos back in August, while Barilla scored two and assisted one.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
Santa Barbara and San Jose will kick things off from SRAC Pool at 9 a.m. on Saturday, with the Gauchos then getting a break until 3 p.m., when they will take on Saint Mary's. Live stats and play-by-play updates for both games will be available through ucsbgauchos.com.