The UCSB women’s water polo team traveled north to CSU Monterey Bay on Thursday to play its season opener against the Otters, using their superior talent to overcome the Otters’ physicality on their way to a 14-8 thrashing of Monterey.

“We definitely saw a couple individual areas where we need to put work in,” Head Coach Wolf Wigo said. “We played good defense and we got to play a lot of players so it was definitely a positive game.”

The Gauchos will get another chance to test their strength before their schedule gets harder when they play CSU East Bay in Hayward, Calif. this afternoon.

“They’re supposed to be a little better,” Wigo said. “It should be an interesting game. We should win but we don’t want to take anything for granted.”

That game is slated for a 3:30 p.m. start time. Santa Barbara will wrap up its opening weekend on Saturday, when they head to Berkeley for the day-long Cal Mini Tournament.

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