Santa Barbara, Calif. - The No. 5 Pacific men's water polo team opened MPSF play with a 9-6 win over No. 7 UC Santa Barbara behind four goals from Ben Stevenson.
Brady Moore recorded 15 saves in the cage for the Tigers, who won their 11th straight game to improve to 11-1 and remain unbeaten in regulation.
Aleksandar Petrovic added two goals while, Alex Obert, Devon Thumwood, and Michael Woodbury each tallied a goal.
Stevenson's four goals tied a season high, his ninth multi-goal game this season and his seventh game with at least three goals. He now has 30 goals on the year to lead Pacific.
The Gauchos broke through first with a 6-on-5 goal from Mitchell Hamilton just under two minutes in. Stevenson answered back knotting the game at 1-1 at the 4:06 mark. But that would be all the scoring in the first quarter, as each goalie recorded four saves in the first period.
Shane Hauschild put UCSB up 2-1 early in the second, but Stevenson again answered back as he finished off a pass from Alex Obert to tie the game. Petrovic converted a feed from Krisztian Laczkovics to give the Tigers their first lead of the game at 3-2. Obert drew the exclusion and Devon Thumwood provided a two-goal lead by hitting the back of the cage on the 6-on-5.
In the third, UCSB cut the Tigers lead to one on a goal from Hauschild. But Stevenson yet again provided the answer, tallying on the Tigers' next possession for his third of the game and a 5-3 Pacific lead. Derek Shoemaker scored for UCSB but with a minute to go in the third, Petrovic tallied again for a 6-4 Pacific lead. Hauschild's third goal cut the Tiger lead to 6-5 after three quarters.
Pacific carried a one-goal lead into the fourth, but Samer Alkateb knotted the game at 6-6 for the Gauchos. Michael Woodbury put the Tigers back-in-front, 7-6. Stevenson's fourth goal restored a two-goal advantage at 8-6.
Obert scored with 3:29 left in regulation and Moore posted three more saves down the stretch as the Tigers kept the Gauchos off the board.
The Tigers open MPSF play 1-0 while UCSB falls to 9-4 overall, 0-2 in MPSF action.
Pacific will head to the SoCal Tournament next weekend, co-hosted by Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount. The Tigers will open with No. 18 Santa Clara on Saturday, October 10, at noon. Pacific will face either No. 4 Cal or No. 19 LMU on Saturday afternoon in the second game, either at 4 p.m. (should Pacific lose) or 5:20 p.m. (if Pacific defeats Santa Clara). Both Saturday matches will take place at LMU, a schedule change which occurred last week to accommodate LMU's schedule.
