MALIBU, Calif. – No. 15 UC Irvine could not hold off sixth-ranked UC Santa Barbara in the second quarter and fell 13-9 in the first round of the Golden Coast Conference Championship held at the Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool on the campus of Pepperdine.

UCSB out-scored UCI 6-1 in the second quarter to break the game open.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Jason Evezard led the Anteaters with four goals
>Sven Davidson scored twice, while Jon Polos, Casey Lynton and Chad Gornay each added a goal
>Harrison Land recorded seven saves and two steals
>Seven different UCSB players scored led by Nathan Puentes and Cole Brosnan with three apiece

TURNING POINTS
FIRST PERIOD
>Both teams played good defense early, including UCI goalkeeper Harrison Land who stopped a point blank shot at 5:45
>UCSB got on the board first with a goal at 5:09 by Jacob Halle
>Mason McQuet would score on the next possession at 4:22 to put the Gauchos on top 2-0
>Jason Evezard skipped a shot in to the right corner of the cage on the power play to cut the lead in half, 2-1 at 3:52
>Following a Gaucho turnover, Evezard knotted the score with a no-look backhand at 3:22, 2-2
>After a UCI exclusion on a breakaway, UCSB fired a quick shot that was denied in the final minute of the quarter to keep the score tied at 2-2

SECOND PERIOD
>A goal from the right hand side (6:12) then up top (5:28) by Cole Brosnan gave UCSB a 4-2 advantage
>UCI's Casey Lynton skipped a shot under the goalie's arms with the clock running out at 5:01, 4-3
>UCSB pulled away with four consecutive goals by McQuit (4:38), two by Nathan Puentes (4:05, 3:01) and another by Sam Nangle (0:45) to end the half with an 8-3 lead

THIRD PERIOD
>UCSB continued the second half just as hot with another goal at 7:35
>Jon Polos broke the draught with a goal from a Bryant Joudrie assist at 5:01
>Following a UCSB goal at 4:14, Foster Hoose had a perfect pass to Chad Gornay heading to the cage on the left side for a goal at 3:48, 10-5
>The Gauchos would close out the period with goals at 3:05 and 0.59 to take a 12-5 advantage in to the final eight minutes

FOURTH PERIOD
>Evezard threaded a shot through the defense at 7:11 then unloaded a backhand at 5:03 to close the gap to 12-7
>UCSB trickled a goal in to the cage at 3:45 before Sven Davidson had a breakaway at 0.43 then a shot that bounced off some fingertips and in to the goal with seven seconds left to round out the scoring 13-9

NOTES
>UCI was 3-6 on power-play opportunities, while the Gauchos were 2-9
>Bryant Joudrie had a team-high four steals and two assists

UP NEXT
>UCI will play tomorrow (Nov. 23) in the fifth place game at 9:30 a.m. against either Long Beach State or San Jose State