Oct. 28, 2006

Stockton, Calif. - The No. 6 ranked Pacific men's water polo team fell to No. 7 UC Santa Barbara by the score of 9-5 in front of 283 fans at Chris Kjeldsen Pool.

With the loss, the Tigers fall to 14-10 on the season and 2-2 in the MPSF, while the Gauchos improve to 16-10, 1-2 in the MPSF.

Both teams started slow, as each team scored just one goal in the first period to end tied 1-1. Junior Duje Kaurloto (Split, Croatia) took advantage of a five-meter penalty by finding the back of the cage for Pacific, following up the drawn penalty by senior Co-Captain Clint McLaughlin (El Cajon, Calif.). In the second period the Gauchos struck first as Dane Lindstrom scored to give UCSB a 2-1 advantage. The lead was short lived, however, as senior co-captain Matt Turnbull (Act, Australia) tied it back up less than a minute later at 2-2. Miles Price then scored his first of two goals on the day with less than a minute remaining in the half to put the Gauchos back on top 3-2, but Turnbull responded with his second goal of the period to tie the score 3-3 at the half.

After intermission, the Tigers took their first lead of the game as junior Dragan Bakic (Split, Croatia) scored less than a minute into the third period to make the score 3-2 in favor of Pacific. The Gauchos tied it up a minute later before Bakic came back to score on a power play to again give the Tigers a lead at 5-4. Ratko Paunovic then connected on his sole goal of the game for UCSB to make the score 5-5 heading into the fourth. The Gauchos scored four unanswered goals in the fourth to make the final tally 9-5.

The Tigers are next in action on Sunday, October 29th as they take on No. 10 Pepperdine in MPSF play. Opening sprint is scheduled for 12 noon.

Pacific: 1-2-2-0 = 5
UCSB: 1-2-2-4 = 9

Goals:
Pacific: Bakic 2 (56, 57), Turnbull 2 (33, 34), Kaurloto (58)
UCSB: Dale 2, Price 2, Lindstrom, Machado, Paunovic, Sinclair, Watts

Blocks: Domecus (PAC) 10, Wright (UCSB) 11.

Sprints: McLaughlin (PAC) 2, Kaurloto (PAC), Price (UCSB)