SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The No.12 UC Santa Barbara Men's Water Polo team will open Big West play on Saturday, riding the momentum of a six-game winning streak. The Gauchos will host conference newcomers No. 16 California Baptist for a noontime game at Santa Barbara High School.
 
KNOW BEFORE YOU GO
Sunday's home matches will be held at Santa Barbara High School, where admission is free and open until the venue's capacity is reached. Parking is freely available on the SBHS campus and on surrounding surface streets.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Gauchos faced No. 9 San Jose State and No. 20 Saint Mary's last weekend in San Jose. Santa Barbara earned a thrilling 13-12 overtime victory over the hosting San Jose State, the Gauchos' first top-10 win of the season. Charlie Johnson scored the game-winning overtime goal and totaled four goals in the game. Cutino Award candidate Luigi Canepa also came out strong against the Spartans, recording five goals and two assists. In the matchup against Saint Mary's, the Gauchos dominated the beginning of the game, jumping out to a 4-0 lead over the Gaels. Santa Barbara went on to secure another victory, 14-8, completing a perfect weekend in San Jose and extending its winning streak to six games. On Wednesday, Canepa was named Big West Player of the Week for his exploits.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
No.16 California Baptist enters the weekend with a 7-2 record. The Lancers are currently riding a four-game winning streak after defeating Pomona-Pitzer, Air Force, Chapman and Biola in Pomona. Prior to that, CBU was tested against No. 4 Fordham in a non-conference matchup at the Lancer Aquatic Center, falling to the Rams, 10-6. Like the Gauchos, CBU has a representative on the Cutino Award Watch List: junior attacker Andrea Nuzzo, who is the only man in The Big West with more total points this season than Santa Barbara's Canepa.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
Santa Barbara will welcome California Baptist to The Big West at 12 noon on Saturday from Santa Barbara High School. Admission is free and open at SBHS and fans can also catch all the action live on ESPN+ or by following along with live stats and play-by-play updates at ucsbgauchos.com/MWP_Stats.