Score: UC Davis 15, UC Santa Barbara 7
Location: Irvine, Calif. (Anteater Aquatics Complex)
Record: UC Davis 14-12, UC Santa Barbara 17-14
  
The short story: 11 saves on the day for goalkeeper Baxter Chelsom led UC Davis men's water polo to a Big West semifinals win over UC Santa Barbara on Saturday, Nov. 22. The Aggies play for Big West supremacy against Long Beach State tomorrow at 12:00 p.m.

POST-GAME PRESS CONFERENCE

 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Taking a pass from Timothy Kerr three minutes in, Colin Nicholls got the Aggies on the board.
• Oleg Shatskikh followed that up with a goal of his own a minute later to give his team an early 2-0 lead.
• The Gauchos responded with a pair of scores of their own, but Max Prokhin and Thomas Marr added to the Aggie scoring to give their team a 4-2 lead after one.
• Two quick goals from UCSB tied things at four apiece early in the second quarter before William Fosselman got his first.
• With two minutes left in the half, Sam McKenzie tied it for the Gauchos. But Adam Ting, Shatskikh, and Oriol Viñas went back-to-back-to-back as Davis went up 8-5 going into the break.
• Despite an early goal from their opponent, quarter three was all defense for Chelsom and the Aggies, with the lone score coming from Shatskikh to give his team a 9-6 advantage going into the final period.
• The fourth quarter saw an avalanche of goals from Davis, with tallies from Marr, Shatskikh, Prokhin, Andrew Hitchcock, and Thomas Kiesling leading a six-goal period for their team.
• Santa Barbara scored a late goal, but that would spell victory for the Aggies, who would roll to a 15-7 win.

UP NEXT: The Big West championship will be decided on Sunday, Nov. 23, at 12:00 p.m. PT when the Aggies face off against top-seeded Long Beach State. The match will be streamed live on ESPN+, and fans can follow along with livestats on TheFosh.
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