STANFORD, Calif. — The No. 14 UC Santa Barbara Men’s Water Polo team had a vexing evening to start their 2026 Overnight MPSF Invitational on Friday, falling to No. 6 Long Beach State by a 16-9 margin.
The Beach took a multi-goal lead early in the first quarter, but Camren Simoncelli scored twice — including a goal four seconds before the buzzer — to keep the Gauchos close, down just 4-2 after the opening frame.
However, Santa Barbara could not find a way through Long Beach’s defense in the second quarter, allowing the Beach to create some separation. At halftime, Santa Barbara trailed by five, down 7-2.
The Gauchos’ offense re-ignited after the break though, and it did its part to start erasing that deficit. Landon Lassahn scored on Santa Barbara’s first possession, then his co-captain Finn Genc tallied less than a minute later.
Dash D’Ambrosia chipped in, then Oliver Sherwood capitalized on a six-on-five powerplay. Charlie Johnson found the back of the cage to make it five goals from five different scorers, but unfortunately for Santa Barbara they had not managed to get any closer on the scoreboard.
Long Beach State also scored five times in the third and so the margin remained five goals entering the fourth, the Gauchos trailing 12-7.
Johnson scored again in the fourth and Sean Keane scored late in the frame too, but those goals ended up being nothing more than consolation as the Beach scored four times in the final quarter to seal the win.
The MPSF Invitational continues with two games for Santa Barbara on Saturday, starting with a matchup against Santa Clara at 12:20 p.m. The Gauchos will then play either California Baptist or Princeton later Saturday evening.