The UC Santa Barbara men’s water polo team opened its 2019 season with a pair of victories in the first day of the 2019 Triton Invitational on Saturday.
UCSB opened with a 12-7 win over Concordia and capped the day with an 11-7 victory over Golden Coast Conference rival Pepperdine at UC San Diego.
After trailing 3-2 in the first period against Concordia, the Gauchos roared back with six goals, split evenly among six different players, to lead 8-5 at the half.
Junior attacker Cole Brosnan led the way for the Gauchos with three goals, while sophomore driver Ryan Brosnan and sophomore attacker Sam Nangle had two apiece.
Senior goalkeeper Justyn Barrios made two saves in the season opener.
In a battle of preseason Golden Coast Conference favorites, goalkeepr Danny Roland made 10 saves to lead the Gauchos past No. 7 Pepperdine.
UCSB jumped out to a 4-1 advantage in the first quarter thanks to goals from the trio of Cole Brosnan, senior attacker Jacob Halle, and Nangle.
Pepperdine cut the Gauchos’ lead to 4-3, but senior utility Ivan Gvozdanovic’s goal with 2:55 left in the half and sophomore attacker Tommy Hawkins’ pair of goals in the final minute before halftime saw UCSB take a 7-4 lead into the break.
Santa Barbara added a pair of goals via redshirt freshman center Adam Lott and sophomore driver Nathan Puentes in the third quarter, and junior attacker Alan Peoples and junior defender Mason McQuet’s fourth-quarter scores cemented the win.
The Gauchos play two more games in the Triton Invitational, beginning with No. 4 Cal at 11:10 a.m.