SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The No. 3 Pacific men's water polo team (12-3, 1-1) defeated No. 5 UC Santa Barbara (15-5, 0-1), 17-16, on Sunday afternoon.
 
The Tigers kicked off GCC play with a victory over the Gauchos, topping UCSB for the second time this season in thrilling fashion. Prior to the match, UOP had not recorded two victories over Santa Barbara in the same season since 2015.

 
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW:

• Redshirt senior Luke Pavillard led all players with five total goals scored in the match. Following this dominant performance, Pavillard is still first on the team in goals scored, having tallied 41 total goals in 15 matches played so far.
• Jeremie Cote was huge factor on offense for the Tigers as the freshman netted four goals in the victory. He now sits solely in second place on the team with 38 total goals on the season.
• Luis Araya came up clutch for Pacific yet again, scoring three goals for the second time this season as his goal with twelve seconds remaining in the final period proved to be the game-winner for the Tigers.

 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

• UCSB outshot Pacific 36-31 overall, but the Tigers finished with a better shooting percentage than the Gauchos. UOP recorded a .549 clip while Santa Barbara came in at .444.
• Eight different Tigers scored in the win, including junior Eli Lule, who netted his first goal since Sept. 21 vs. Whittier (fifth overall).
• Sophomore goalie Jon Barry notched eight saves and one steal en route to his twelfth victory of the season.

 
FIRST PERIOD:

• Despite the Gauchos getting on the board first, Pavillard, Araya and Cote would respond quickly for Pacific, each netting goals within the first three minutes of the contest to give the Tigers an early 3-1 lead.
• UCSB tied the match at three in the following minutes, but Pavillard's second goal of the period gave Pacific the lead back, 4-3, at the 1:29 mark.
• Sophomore Bogdan Djerkovic tallied his 14^th goal of the season with 48 seconds left in the opening frame as Pacific held a 5-3 advantage after the first period.

 
SECOND PERIOD:

• Aiming to keep the Tigers in front, Engin Ege Colak scored his lone goal of the match just thirty seconds into the second period as Pacific extended their lead to 6-4.
• Santa Barabara tied the match midway through the period, but Djordje Stanic and Pavillard continued to put pressure on their opponents, scoring at 5:27 and 4:49 as the Tigers regained their two-point advantage to lead 8-6.
• Seeming almost unguardable, Pavillard found the back of the net for the fourth time in the first half with 33 seconds remaining in the second period. Thanks to this late goal, the two teams headed into the locker room tied at nine.

 
THIRD PERIOD:

• Looking for offensive momentum out of the break, Lule scored his first goal in almost a month at the 7:40 mark of the third as the Tigers jumped back in front of the Gauchos, 10-9.
• Battling back and forth, Pacific and UCSB traded goals for the remainder of the period. Andrea De Nardi netted his 18^th goal of the season at 4:25 while Jeremie Cote scored two more midway through the third.
• The Tigers final goal of the period game at 2:16 when Pavillard scored his fifth goal of the match, giving Pacific a 14-12 lead. Ultimately, the Gauchos would tie UOP with a goal of their own at the 0:19 mark, setting up a showdown for the final period.

 
FOURTH PERIOD:

• The Gauchos used the support of their home crowd to score first in the fourth period, but Araya would flex his muscle less than two minutes later as his second goal of the match tied the game at 15 with 4:20 remaining.
• Despite UCSB regaining the lead with under three minutes left, Cote showed how resilient this Tiger team is as his fourth goal of the contest tied the match once again at the 1:40 mark.
• Down to the wire, Araya came up clutch for the Tigers, scoring with his third goal of the match with just twelve seconds remaining to put Pacific back in front of UCSB, 17-16.
• Ultimately, UOP was able to stifle the Gaucho offense for the final twelve seconds as they defeated Santa Barbara for the second time this season by a final score of 17-16.

 
 
WHAT COACH GRAHAM SAID:
 
On the team's victory: "That was a huge conference win for us and a huge win for our post season chances going forward.  I'm so proud of our guys, so proud of the team for battling in a hostile environment and finding a way to take home the W."
 
 
UP NEXT: Pacific will return home to Chris Kjeldsen Pool as the Tigers host Pepperdine on Saturday, Oct. 26 at 12:00 pm. Following their defeat of the Gauchos, UOP is looking to move to 2-0 in conference play in their matchup with the Waves. Video and live stats links will be available on pacifictigers.com.