Oct. 19, 2007

Santa Barbara, Calif. - The Pacific men's water polo team kicked off a three game road trip and a stretch of seven straight MPSF games with a 10-5 loss to UC Santa Barbara on Oct. 19 in Santa Barbara, Calif. The loss was the Tigers twelfth of the year as the team fell to 13-12 on the season and 0-2 in the MPSF after the game. The Gauchos improved to 16-8 on the year with the win and are now 1-1 in MPSF action.

Heading into the game, Pacific seniors Dragan Bakic (Split, Croatia) and Duje Kaurloto (Split, Croatia) were the second and third highest goals scorers in the nation. Bakic went into the contest with 72 goals on the season, while Kaurloto went into the road game with an impressive 70 goals on the year up to this point.

In the contest, Bakic found the back of the net three more times to bring his season total to 75 and to lead all scorers. Bakic's efforts would not be enough though, as UCSB's Rick Wright saved eleven Pacific shots on goal and held the Tigers to a total of five goals in the loss. Hall and the Gauchos also held Kaurloto scoreless for just the third time all season.

Pacific's other two goals were scored by Joey Rossi (Ceres, Calif.) and Mike Struempf (Pleasant Hill, Calif.). Rossi netted his goal in the first period to bring the Tigers within two heading into the second period, while Struempf's goal was scored in the third period to keep the game close heading into the fourth. Brian Domecus (Vallejo, Calif.) was in goal for the Tigers in the loss. He recorded eight saves in the game.

The Tigers' next game will be against Pepperdine in Malibu, Calif. at 12:00 p.m. on Oct. 20. Pacific will round out this weekend's action on Oct. 21, when they will take on UCLA in Los Angeles, Calif.

Pacific: 2 - 0 - 2 - 1 = 5

UCSB: 4 - 2 - 3 - 2 = 10

Pacific Goals: Dragan Bakic 3, Joey Rossi 1, Mike Struempf 1

UCSB Goals: Ross Sinclair 3, Milos Golic 1, Jesse Tootell 1, Dane Lindstrom 1, Miles Price 1, Daniel Natalizio 1, Coulson Lantz 1, Matt Dale 1

Pacific Saves: Brian Domecus 8

UCSB Saves: Rick Wright 11