No. 7 UCSB won its second conference water polo game on Thursday night, beating No. 6 Long Beach State, 8-5, avenging a previous loss against the 49ers.
UCSB improves to 12-6 and 2-0 in the new Golden Coast Conference; Long Beach State is 11-6, 1-1.
The Gauchos spread their scoring around. Ivan Gvozdanovic scored a team-high two goals followed by Samar Alkateb, Reed Cotterill, Tommy Fellner, Mitchell Hamilton, Josh Jordan and Tor Jensen, who each contributed one.
In the cage, starting goalkeeper Liam Lenihan made 10 saves and had four steals.
UCSB overwhelmed Long Beach State’s defense with a pivotal four-goal run. The Gauchos showed off their technique during that run with Alkateb catching the goalkeeper off guard with a backhand shot. Later, Jensen fired a skip shot from a sharp angle to continue the run, while Jordan found Fellner in the inside for a great scoring opportunity. The 49ers were finally able to score in the last minute off a power play, but they still trailed 5-2 heading into the break.
The second quarter was a dead even battle with neither team being able to score. After a combined eight ejections in that period alone, Long Beach State had five power player opportunities to score but the Gauchos defense shut them down every time.
During the third quarter, only the 49ers made a goal off a penalty shot, while the Gauchos still held onto their lead at 5-3.
In the first minute of the fourth quarter Gvozdanovic made a brilliant solo play after stealing the ball and sprinting to the other side to make a goal against the goalkeeper one-on-one. At the 6:31 mark, Long Beach State found another opportunity, scoring off a power play making it 6-4, but the Gauchos went on to make two more goals to extend their lead. The 49ers were able to make one last goal off another power player in the last minute, but it was too big of a lead to catch up, as the game ended 8-5.
The Gauchos will be back at Campus Pool on Saturday to host a pivotal matchup with No. 5 Stanford starting at noon.