Nov. 7, 2003

SAN DIEGO - The sixth-ranked UC San Diego men's water polo team jumped out to a 4-0 lead and went on to defeat ninth-ranked UC Santa Barbara in non-conference action in front of a crowd of 1,061 at UCSD's Canyonview Pool on Friday night.

Junior Brandon Borso tallied the first of his game-high four goals to open the scoring just 62 seconds into the game. After goals by redshirt sophomore Chris Finegold, senior Matthew Ustaszewski and junior Jonathan Hopkins, senior Doug Arthur got the visiting Gauchos on the board with under a second left to play in the first period.

Junior Clark Petersen and Hopkins notched goals out of the gate in period two before a UCSB score by freshman Ross Sinclair made it a 6-2 result at halftime.

The Gauchos outscored the home side, 3-1, in the third period, to make things interesting at 7-5 heading into the final frame.

Borso dashed any UCSB hopes of a comeback, however, by scoring three goals within the first 3:41 of the quarter to put the cushion at 10-5.

Hopkins finished with a hat trick, with two goals coming on four-meter penalty shots. Finegold and Petersen scored single goals, as did UCSD's two senior co-captains, Ustaszewski and Matt Ellis.

Junior Brian Alexander provided two goals to increase his total to a team-best 51 on the year. Sinclair, Arthur, junior Andrew Schoneberger and freshman Matt Dale had one goal apiece. Sophomore Colin McElroy had four saves for UCSD while junior Mike Hoy stopped five shots in the cage for UC Santa Barbara.

The win, UCSD's fifth in a row, improves its record to 17-8, while the Gauchos fall to 11-13 in dropping their sixth straight game.

UC Santa Barbara hosts top-ranked USC at 4:00 p.m. this Sunday at the Recreation Center Pool.

                           1  2  3  4  TOT
UC SAN DIEGO (17-8)        4  2  1  4  11
UC SANTA BARBARA (11-13)   1  1  3  1  6
UCSD Goals: Brandon Borso-4, Jonathan Hopkins-3, Chris Finegold, Matt Ellis, Clark Petersen, Matthew Ustaszewski.
UCSB Goals: Brian Alexander-2, Ross Sinclair, Doug Arthur, Andrew Schoneberger, Matt Dale.
Goalie Saves: Colin McElroy (UCSD)-4; Mike Hoy (UCSB)-5.
Attendance: 1,061.