Nov. 4, 2007

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Sophomore Zsombor Vincze posted his third consecutive hat trick, but it was not enough as the No. 7 UC Santa Barbara men's water polo team fell to No. 1 Cal, 10-8 Sunday afternoon at the Gauchos' Campus Pool. The match-up marked the last home game for four Gaucho seniors: Matt Dale, Coulson Lantz, Ross Sinclair and Rick Wright.

With the loss, UCSB falls to 17-10 on the season and 2-3 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. Cal improves to 22-2 and 6-0 in MPSF games.

UCSB got the game off to a great start when Vincze opened the scoring with a cross-cage shot with 6:30 on the clock to put the Gauchos ahead, 1-0. During the following possession, Cal answered back with a point from Frank Reynolds. The Bears were able to take their first lead of the game with 4:50 on the clock with the first of three goals from Spencer Warden during a six-on-five play. The Gauchos tied the game at 2-2 when Jesse Tootell scored out of two-meters, but a breakaway goal from Michael Sharf at 1:34 gave Cal a narrow 3-2 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Cal's Zac Monsees stretched the Bear's lead to two goals with a point scored 1:43 into the second quarter. Dale responded with a shot scored as the two teams became even on a six-on-five to cut the lead to 4-3. Unfortunately for the Gauchos, Cal finished the first half with a 3-0 run, which included Warden and Sharf's second goals of the game. Heading into halftime, the Bears led 7-3.

The Gauchos came out of half time on fire as Milos Golic fired one in with 6:07 on the clock. Sharf responded with his third goal of the game a little over a minute later during a man-up situation. A goal from Trent Calder out of center gave the Bears their biggest lead of the game at 9-4. Back-to-back goals from Lantz and Vincze put the Gauchos back within three points at 9-6 heading into the final quarter.

Miles Price won the fourth quarter opening sprint and Vincze scored his third goal during a six-on-five possession to cut the Cal lead to 9-7 just 42 seconds into the quarter. Warden responded with a Cal man-up goal with 6:51 left to play. UCSB held the Bears scoreless the rest of the game and Price cut the lead to 10-8 with a six-on-five goal. Following Price's goal, UCSB had two man-up opportunities that it failed to convert, and as the clock wound down, Cal held on for the 10-8 victory.

Wright tallied six saves in the cage and Cal's Mark Sheredy had seven.

UCSB will continue conference action next weekend on the road when it travels to No. 2 UCLA on Saturday, Nov. 10 for a 1 p.m. pairing. The following day, the Gauchos will take-on No. 8 Long Beach State at noon.

Cal 10, UC Santa Barbara 8

	1	2	3	4	Final
Cal	3	4	2	1	10
UCSB	2	1	3	2	8

Cal Goals: Michael Sharf 3, Spencer Warden 3, Frank Reynolds 1, Trent Calder 1, Jeff Tyrell 1, Zac Monsees 1.
UCSB Goals: Zsombor Vincze 3, Jesse Tootell 1, Coulson Lantz 1, Matt Dale 1, Miles Price 1, Milos Golic 1.

Cal Goalie Saves: Mark Sheredy 7.
UCSB Goalie Saves: Rick Wright 6.