STANFORD, Calif. — The No. 14 UC Santa Barbara Men's Water Polo team lit up the scoreboard in a pair of dramatic matches on the second day of the 2026 Overnght MPSF Invitational, out-dueling No. 17 Santa Clara, 15-13, and nearly upsetting No. 8 Princeton but falling in overtime, 15-14. Freshman
Dash D'Ambrosia had the best game of his young collegiate career with a five-goal haul against the Broncos and added another against the Tigers, while fellow freshman
Luigi Canepa had his own five-fer in the nightcap. Co-captain
Finn Genc had a hat-trick in the loss to Princeton and two goals in the win over Santa Clara.
No. 14 UC SANTA BARBARA 15, No. 17 SANTA CLARA 13
A strong second quarter set up a fourth-quarter surge to victory for the Gauchos in the early match, as the Blue and Gold held on to their precious two-goal margin. Despite two goals from D'Ambrosia and a third from
Charlie Johnson, the Gauchos trailed by one after the first quarter.
Kai Ross momentarily tied the game early in the second, but then the Broncos built the first multi-goal lead for either team.
Pivotally, Santa Barbara turned that two-goal deficit on its head over the span of three minutes, with consecutive goals from
Camren Simoncelli, Genc and D'Ambrosia twice. A buzzer-beating score got one goal back for Santa Clara, but the Gauchos still had the lead at halftime, 8-7.
The teams traded two goals each in the third quarter, with powerplay scores from Canepa and
Landon Lassahn for Santa Barbara. The Broncos then scored on their first possession of the fourth quarter to tie the game and set up a straight fight over the final seven minutes, which the Gauchos won. Canepa and
Sloan Brown gave the Blue and Gold a 12-10 edge, then Ross and Genc answered a Santa Clara with two more for Santa Barbara to make it 14-11. The Broncos scored twice in the final 90 seconds, but D'Ambrosia's fifth goal of the game gave the Gauchos all the cushion they would need. Santa Clara did win a five-meter penalty in the final 20 seconds, which would have brought them within a single goal if not for
Wyatt Pieretti making a game-clinching save.
No. 14 UC SANTA BARBARA 14, No. 8 PRINCETON 15 (OT)
It was a heartbreaker in the evening match, as the Gauchos built a three-goal lead by halftime but the Tigers fought back and tied the game with one second left and went on to win in overtime.
The game was level at four apiece after the first quarter, with goals from Ross, D'Ambrosia,
Jake Reinke and Genc for Santa Barbara. The Gauchos then used a big second quarter to pull away, with Ross scoring on the first possession of the frame, then Canepa, Genc and Sherwood putting together a 3-0 run. Finally, Canepa converted a five-meter penalty with just about 30 seconds until halftime.
However, Santa Barbara's 9-6 halftime lead turned into a 9-9 tie as the final minute of the third quarter ticked away, with Canepa's late goal stopping the bleeding and putting the Gauchos' noses back in front. The stellar Serbian scored again early in the fourth to put Santa Barbara back up by two, but Princeton continued to rally. The Tigers cut the lead to one, then Canepa put it back to two. The Tigers tied the game, then Sherwood got the Gauchos back in front. That margin held until the dying seconds, when Princeton again tied the game with just two seconds left. The Tigers scored in each of the two overtime periods, and while Genc brought Santa Barbara back within a goal with 30 seconds left, Santa Barbara was not able to find the second goal they needed to keep the game running.
UP NEXT
The Gauchos conclude their MPSF Invitational on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. from Avery Aquatic Center in Stanford, where they take on No. 11 Pepperdine.
