The No. 8 UC Santa Barbara men’s water polo team began its 2022 campaign at the Triton Invitational and split its opening games with an 18-8 win over Claremont Mudd Scripps and a near upset No. 3 UCLA, falling 7-6.
Redshirt freshman attacker Marko Maramica led the Gauchos (1-1) with five goals on the day. He scored twice in the second quarter against the Bruins (2-0) to start a spirited comeback as the Gauchos erased a 4-0 deficit and remained tied into the final two minutes of the match.
Senior attacker Tommy Hawkins struck first early in the third, notching his second score of the day to bring UCSB within a goal, 4-3. The Gaucho defense continued to keep them in it, and at the 3:54 mark of the third, sophoore center Dash McFarland found the equalizer to tie it at 4-4.
The Bruins fired back to take a 6-4 advantage heading into the final frame. The resilient Gauchos came right back, as freshman Luke Redoutey scored for the second time in the day at the 7:02 mark to make it a one goal game.
With just under two minutes to go, Brosnan scored a timely goal to bring the teams level at 6-6. However, UCLA would score its only goal of the fourth quarter on the following possession, and UCSB was unable to find a third equalizer.
Senior center Sam Nangle started the season strong with four goals in the win over Claremont Mudd Scripps, while Maramica and redshirt freshman attacker Brock Zamanian both recorded hat tricks.