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SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- Down 3-0 early, No. 10 and third-seed UC Santa Barbara allowed just four goals the final three quarters to earn a come-from-behind 9-7 victory in game two of the 2022 Golden Coast Conference Men's Water Polo Championships Friday night at Campus Pool.
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UCSB (14-12) got 15 saves from goalie Danny Roland as he allowed one goal in the second quarter and none in the third to help UCSB turn a 3-0 deficit into a 7-4 lead heading into the fourth quarter. San Jose State cut the lead to a pair twice but could get no closer as severn different players scored a single goal.
The Gauchos advance to the second semifinal on Saturday against No. 2 seed and sixth-ranked Long Beach State at 7 pm.
Niels Hofmeijer, Bence Szabo, and Utko Karhan put the Spartans up 3-0 with 2:54 to play in the first quarter. UCSB would then score the next four to take their first lead. They would not trail again. Colton Gregory, Brock Zamanian, Mason Chambliss and Tommy Hawkins all scored in that run.
San Jose State would tie it at 4-4 on a 6-on-5 goal from Laszlo Szieben with 1:30 to play in the first half. It would stay that way at the break.
UCSB would then score three straight - goals from Hawkins, James Oriskovich and Dash McFarland - put them up 7-4 and they never looked back. Hawkins led them with three goals and an assist for a four-point night. Chambliss and three points with a goal and two assists.
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