IRVINE, CALIF. – A balanced offense helped third-seed UC Irvine defeat sixth-seeded UC Santa Barbara, 10-7 in the first game of the 2017 Golden Coast Conference Men's Water Polo Championships on Friday night at the Anteater Aquatics Center.

With the win, UCI, who is ranked seventh nationally, improves to 14-9 overall and advances to a semifinal showdown with second-seed Long Beach State at 6:00 p.m. Saturday.
 
UCI had eight players record goals and were led by senior Antoine Lena and freshman Fynn Schuetze with two goals each.
 
Jon Polos, Brendan Duffy, Jack Trush, Kyle Trush, Robby Stiefel and Lovre Milos each contributed a goal. Milos led the team with two assists and two steals, while goalkeeper Matej Matijevic had 12 saves.
 
UC Santa Barbara's (10-12) Boris Jovanovic led all players with three goals.
 
UC Santa Barbara got on the board first with a goal at 6:43 then Jon Polos (1:29) and Brendan Duffy (0:36) answered for UC Irvine to complete the first period with a 2-1 advantage.
 
The Anteaters took control in the second period, scoring four unanswered goals from Fynn Schuetze (4:29), Jack Trush (3:58), Kyle Trush (3:19 and Robby Stiefel (3:07) to open a 6-1 advantage.
 
The Gauchos rallied with the next five goals, including back-to-back goals by Boris Jovanovic, the last at 5:12 of the third quarter to knot the score at 6-6. UCI would return the favor with three of their own including the final goal of the period by Antoine Lena at 2:36 to give the Anteaters a 9-6 advantage.

A relatively quiet fourth quarter saw UCSB get another goal from Jovanovic at 4:52 then the final goal of the night by Lena at 3:58 for the 10-7 UCI victory.
 
San Jose State and UC Santa Barbara will play for fifth place at 4:30 p.m. followed by the Anteaters and Forty-Niners. Top-seed Pacific will face Pepperdine in the other semifinal at 7:30 p.m.
 
SCORING BY PERIOD
UCSB                     1-2-3-1-7
UCI                         2-4-3-1-10
 
SCORING
UCSB: Jovanovic 3, Halle 1, Wood 1, Hauschild 1, Cotterill 1
UCI: Lena 2, Schuetze 2, Polos 1, Duffy 1, J. Trush 1, K. Trush 1, Stieffel 1, Milos 1
 
GOALKEEPING
UCSB: Barrios 8 (16:00 mins, First half), Macdonald 4 (16:00 mins, Second half)
UCI: Matijevic 12