STANFORD, Calif. — The No. 14 UC Santa Barbara Men's Water Polo team ended their 2026 MPSF Invitational with a chippy, contentious match against No. 11 Pepperdine on Sunday.
Charlie Johnson,
Luigi Canepa and
Tyler Roller all had two goals for the Gauchos, but the Waves finished with a 15-10 scoring edge, thanks to converting four penalty shots and two power-play chances in the game.
Â
HOW IT HAPPENED
Pepperdine scored the first two goals before Santa Barbara answered on
Luigi Canepa's power-play goal at 2:32 of the first quarter, but Pepperdine added another at 2:03. The teams traded scoring stretches in the second quarter, with
Sloan Brown scoring at 5:54 and
Tyler Roller and
Camren Simoncelli striking within 30 seconds of each other before Pepperdine closed the quarter with consecutive goals. The Gauchos opened the third quarter with back-to-back goals from
Charlie Johnson, then added goals from Canepa, Roller and
Hayden Tully during a quarter when they out-scored the Waves, 5-4. Pepperdine got the final goal of the third quarter, then created separation with four straight goals in the fourth quarter, including two from Jon Carcarey.
Sean Keane scored for the Gauchos in the final seconds, but it was not enough to affect the outcome.
Â
UP NEXT
Santa Barbara heads to Colorado for another tournament next weekend, with four games over three days at Air Force's Rare Air Challenge. The Gauchos will face the hosting Falcons, as well as Occidental, Wagner and Austin College.
