LA JOLLA, Calif. — There were no lions, but the UC Santa Barbara Men's Water Polo team played Tigers and Bears and gave the fans plenty of reason to say "oh my" on the second day of the 2026 Triton Invitational. The No. 15 Gauchos threatened an upset of No. 4 California in their opening match but fell away late in a 14-9 defeat, but they ended the day with a comfortable, 19-5 win over Occidental in the afternoon game. Freshman
Luigi Canepa was brilliant again, scoring five goals and assisting three more against Cal, while fifth-year goalkeeper
Wyatt Pieretti had a career game with 10 saves against the Golden Bears. In the afternoon,
Finn Byrne pitched a shutout in his 16 minutes of action against the Tigers, while
Charlie Johnson tallied a hat-trick to lead all scorers.
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No. 15 UC SANTA BARBARA 9, No. 4 CALIFORNIA 14
The Gauchos gave the Golden Bears a golden scare in what was Cal's season opener Saturday morning, with goals from
Finn Genc, Canepa and
Camren Simoncelli putting Santa Barbara up 3-0 across the first five minutes of action. The Bears finally got on the board but still trailed, 3-2, at the end of one quarter. Things turned in the second, despite goals from Genc and
Kai Ross, with Cal scoring five times and leading by two at halftime.
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The Gauchos managed to cut into the Bears' lead after the break, holding Cal to just one goal across the third quarter. That frame included a number of great saves from goalkeeper
Wyatt Pieretti, who finished the day with 10 stops in just 24 minutes of action. Canepa took care of business on the offensive end, tallying a penalty goal and a six-on-five score to bring Santa Barbara back within one. But the Gauchos' momentum stalled in the fourth despite two more goals from Canepa. Cal put six in the back of the net in the final eight minutes to hold onto their lead.
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No. 15 UC SANTA BARBARA 19, OCCIDENTAL 5
It was all Gauchos to start the afternoon match, with Santa Barbara scoring the first 16 goals and shutting out the Tigers into the fourth quarter.
Preston Bouch,
Hayden Tully,
Tyler Roller and
Dylan Morris provided the goals in the first, then it was seven different Gauchos finding the net in the second quarter. Roller collected his second goal of the game in the second frame, and Johnson kicked off his eventual hat-trick. Meanwhile, the Santa Barbara defense meant that Byrne only had to make one save to put a zero on the board in the first half.
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Goals from Lassahn, Johnson, Genc, then Johnson again and Lassahn again brought the Gauchos' total up to 16 before Occidental finally got on the board with a pair of scores, but Bouch and
Kyle Franks scored in the final minute to restore Santa Barbara's 18-goal cushion. The fourth quarter was essentially meaningless, though the Gauchos will want to review how the Tigers out-scored them in the final frame. If not for Morris scoring his second of the game, Santa Barbara would have been shut out over the final eight minutes of action.
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UP NEXT
The Gauchos wrap up the 2026 Triton Invitational on Sunday, kicking off the day at 8 a.m. against Mercyhurst before bringing the curtain down with a marquee matchup against No. 2 USC at 1:20 p.m. Both games from the Canyonview Aquatic Center in La Jolla will be streamed live on overnght.com.
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