MWP | Gaels Battle No. 15 UCSB and No. 2 USC in Historic Program Debut

Friday, August 28

San Diego, CA

12:10 PM

Saint Mary's College of California

UC Santa Barbara

Saint Mary's MWP @ Triton Invite 8/28/26

MWP | Gaels Battle No. 15 UCSB and No. 2 USC in Historic Program Debut

8/28/2026 7:57:00 PM | Men's Water Polo

SAN DIEGO, Calif. — The Saint Mary's men's water polo team made history on Friday, as it officially began its inaugural season with matchups against No. 15 UC Santa Barbara and No. 2 USC. The Gaels battled the Gauchos all the way to the finish in a narrow 16-14 loss before falling 22-9 to the Trojans in the second game of the day.

HOW IT HAPPENED VS. UCSB

The Gaels started out strong in their first-ever competition. Freshman Leo Hachem got Saint Mary's started, scoring the first goal in program history on a 5-meter penalty shot. Saint Mary's finished the first half with a 10-9 lead over the Gauchos and led by as many as four in the first half.

UC Santa Barbara came out of the break hot, outscoring the Gaels 3-1 in the third and taking a 12-11 lead heading into the final quarter of play. The action remained back and forth, but UCSB eventually separated in the final minutes and took the 16-14 win.

Eight different Gaels found the back of the net in the first game in program history, as Hachem and Andrew Donlin led the way with three apiece, while Harry Irwin and Domenico Barillà each tallied two.

HOW IT HAPPENED VS. USC

Saint Mary's faced a tough test in its second game of the day, taking on No. 2 USC. Hachem once again opened the scoring for the Gaels to put them up 1-0, but the Trojans stormed back and took a 14-4 lead at the half.

The Gaels continued to battle in the second half, finding the back of the net three times in the third quarter and adding two more in the fourth.

Seven different Gaels scored in the matchup, with Noah Bigara and Donlin leading the way with two goals apiece, but USC ultimately took the 22-9 win to end the day.

GAME NOTES

Saint Mary's officially began competition with its first two games in program history against ranked opponents.
Freshman attacker Leo Hachem scored the first goal in program history on a 5-meter penalty against the Gauchos.
Hachem opened the scoring for the Gaels in both games with a 5-meter penalty goal in each.
Donlin led the Gaels with five goals across the two matchups, while Hachem followed with four.
Bigara and Barillà each tallied three goals, while Irwin and Hamish Ellison added two apiece. Donovan Swann, Ethan Klerck, Nicholas Valente, and Ferran de Witt each found the back of the net once.
Ten different Gaels found the back of the net across the first two games as a program, with eight scoring against UC Santa Barbara and seven against USC.
Saint Mary's scored 23 goals across its first two games as a program.
The Gaels scored nine goals against USC, the No. 2 team in the nation, in just their second game in program history.

LOOKING AHEAD

Saint Mary's will be back in action on Saturday, August 29. The Gaels will open the day against No. 1 UCLA with game time set for 9:30 a.m. before taking on No. 7 Long Beach State at 1:20 p.m. Both games will be streamed live on Overnght and more information can be found at smcgaels.com.

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