By Annabelle Del Bosque — Reporter
San Jose State’s men’s water polo (0-4) went down with a fight against Santa Clara University (1-0) Sunday in a close match, 11-10.
The Broncos put three shots past the Spartans’ junior goalkeeper Mason Smith early to jump out to a 3-0 lead in the first period.
SJSU freshman utility Gal Haimovich converted against SCU’s junior goalkeeper Sean Tehaney to put the Spartans on the scoreboard.
SJSU was able to climb back into the match to finish the period. With 16 seconds left in the first, SJSU’s junior driver Guillermo Aguirre knocked in a goal to cut the Broncos’ lead to 4-3.
Both teams scored one goal each in the second period to keep the match close.
In the third period the Spartans scored on five of their six shots against the Broncos’ sophomore goalkeeper Chase Zamborelli.
To finish the flurry SJSU’s junior two-meter driver Niels Hofmeijer successfully hit the back of SCU’s net to put the Spartans in the lead for the first time in the match, 9-8.
The Spartans maintained momentum going into the fourth period as junior driver Ary Kamen scored early to increase the gap to 10-8.
The Broncos scored two quick goals on Spartans’ sophomore goalkeeper Noah Pendleton twice to tie the match up, and SCU junior attacker Matt Peterson took back the lead with 1.07 left to seal victory.
Even with 32 shots SJSU couldn’t overcome SCU’s firepower.
The Spartans will look for redemption in their second match against the Broncos on Friday at 2:30 p.m.
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