Nov. 20, 2004

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Senior Brian Alexander found the back of the net with 1:05 left in the second sudden victory overtime period to give the No. 9 Gauchos an 8-7 victory over No. 5 UC Irvine in UC Santa Barbara's last home match of the season on Saturday at Campus Pool.

On "Senior Day" at Campus Pool, Gaucho seniors Andrew Schoneberger and Alexander showed why they mean so much to UCSB's water polo team. Schoneberger proved his leadership skills by netting the first goal of the match and giving the Gauchos a quick 1-0 advantage. Although Alexander did not score in regulation, he played a pivotal role in the overtime periods by scoring one goal in the second overtime and the game-winner in the second sudden victory period.

After Schoneberger's quick first quarter goal, UC Irvine responded with a swift goal of their own to knot the score at one. Sophomore Ross Sinclair found the back of the net next for the Gauchos, giving UCSB a 2-1 lead heading into the second quarter. Unlike in the first, both teams were unable to build a strong offensive attack to begin the second quarter. Finally, with 2:34 left to play in the quarter, Irvine's Dan Noon managed to sneak a shot past the Gaucho goalkeeper. UCI followed that goal with another on its next possession to give itself the one goal advantage late in the second quarter. UCSB refused to trail at halftime, and with about one minute left in the second, junior Ramiro Saldain sent the equalizer past the goalkeeper and into the net.

Once again, Irvine managed to score first to start the third quarter of play. This time, it was Rick Merlo who netted his first of three goals on the day with 5:24 left on the clock. Although down, UC Santa Barbara would not trail for long--junior Chris Gronow scored his first of two goals in the match two minutes after Irvine took the lead. It looked as though UCSB and UC Irvine would head into the fourth quarter knotted at four goals apiece, but with three seconds left to play in the quarter, Irvine took the 5-4 lead on a Chris Peters goal. The Anteaters extended their lead to two goals just twenty-three seconds into the fourth quarter after Merlo netted his second goal of the match. Santa Barbara managed to cut the lead to one after Sinclair netted his second goal of the day with two minutes to play in regulation. With fourteen seconds left to play and the Gauchos trailing by a goal, Gronow fired a shot past the Anteater keeper and sent the game into overtime.

The first overtime period produced very little offense for each squad, resulting in one save apiece for the goalkeepers. With the game on the line, the power shooting Alexander fooled everyone with an unconventional lob shot that managed to find its way into the Irvine net. Irvine was down but not out, and with 1:12 left to play in the period, Merlo notched his third goal of the match to send the game crashing into sudden victory overtime.

The first sudden victory overtime period resulted in no goals thanks in large part to Gaucho goalkeeper Jon Bonafede. Bonafede recorded 13 saves in goal for UCSB, but none of them were as big as two of the saves that came in the period. With Irvine attacking strong, Bonafede showed his toughness and drive to win by rejecting the first shot with his chest. The second outstanding block came off a quick shot by an Anteater two-meter player right in front of the goal in which Bonafede deflected out of bounds with his forearm. Sparked by the exceptional play of their goalkeeper, Alexander and the Gauchos entered the second sudden victory period and downed UC Irvine two minutes into the period.

With the victory, the Gauchos snap their five match losing streak and improve to 18-11 on the year. With the loss, UC Irvine falls to 15-12 on the year. The Gauchos return to action this Friday in the MPSF Tournament in Stanford, CA when they battle No. 1 UCLA at 6:30 pm.

Team 1 2 3 4 1OT 2OT 1SV 2SV Total UC Santa Barbara 2 1 1 2 0 1 0 1 8 UC Irvine 1 2 2 1 0 1 0 0 7 Scoring UCSB Goals: Brian Alexander-2, Ross Sinclair-2, Chris Gronow-2, Andrew Schoneberger-1, Ramiro Saldain-1 UC Irvine Goals: Rick Merlo-3, Colin Mello-1, Dan Noon-1, Cole Bitter-1, Chris Peters-1 Goalie Saves UCSB: Jon Bonafede-13 UC Irvine: Joe Wynne-8