09/17 vs. USC
Dan Nguyen — Reporter
San Jose State men’s water polo team (2-5) lost to University of Southern California (5-0) 5-12.
The Trojans have been keeping their momentum, winning their fifth game of the overall season.
Both teams played a total of four sets with SJSU starting the game off for the first set.
During the first set, the Spartans managed to score at least two points thanks to both senior 2 meter defensive positions Neils Hofmeijer and Neil Arnett.
However their goal on the Trojans didn’t last long as they scored three points on SJSU.
There were a lot of penalties given to the Spartans during the second set of the game which was their downfall as they weren’t able to score any more than the one point they got during that set.
It gave USC a chance to score more points which they did, ending the second set with three points.
With the third set in play, Trojans kept their lead from taking advantage of the Spartans having penalties or turnovers as SJSU kept giving USC more chances to score on them.
The third set ended 4-1 and both teams played their last set which showcased the Spartans defensive plays for this last set.
The Trojans kept making attempted shots but SJSU managed to block them and even got the turnover from USC so that the Spartans could have their own fighting chance.
However, that didn’t last long as SJSU only scored one goal during the set and the Trojans scored two points totaling 12 for the entire game.
09/17 vs UC Davis
By Ricardo Garcia — Reporter
The San Jose State men’s water polo team (3-6) suffered a brutal loss 11-10 to UC Davis (7-0) in its second match at the aggie round-up in Davis, California.
Both teams fought a tough battle that saw the game go to sudden death to determine a winner.
Senior attacker Micheal Plastino found the back of the cage at around the 2:00 minute mark in sudden death to secure the winning goal for the Aggies.
Both teams came out strong and matched each other’s high intensity on offense. SJSU got hot first and went into the second period with a 4-2 lead.
The fast-paced Aggie offense quickly found their stride and quickly tied the game up at 4-4 thanks to two goals from senior center Nir Gross. After a strong period for both sides, the Spartans held a 6-5 lead at the half.
SJSU opened the third period by extending their lead thanks to the freshman Lazlo Szieben who netted his third goal of the game.
Despite the early goal, Davis continued its momentum from the previous period and scored three goals to gain the lead going into the final period.
The Spartans came out strong looking to put the game away with two big goals from freshman Bendi Pardi. SJSU held a 9-8 lead with just over two minutes remaining in the match.
The Aggies came with everything they had to try and tie the game but were denied by some great saves from senior goalkeeper Yahav Fire.
As the clock continued to wind down, Davis had about 30 seconds to try and send this game to overtime.
After an SJSU turnover, the Aggies swam down, and Gross found his fourth goal of the game with only two seconds remaining in regular time after a mishandled ball by Fire.
After a grueling 32 minutes of regular time, the score remained even at 9-9 heading into overtime.
The Spartans opened the scoring in the first overtime period with a strong shot from junior driver Adam Bado. Davis did not score in the first overtime period but answered back in the second on the powerplay to tie the game up at 10-10.
The game went into sudden death where the Aggies were able to score on their first possession to remain undefeated
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09/18 vs Berkeley
By Don Le—Reporter
SJSU men’s water polo lost to No.4 ranked UC Berkeley 11-9 Saturday at Aggie’s Round Up
It was their fourth straight loss.
09/19 vs. Redlands
By Benny Garcia — Editor
After disappointing outings in the first four games of the Aggie Round-up, San Jose State men’s water polo (3-7) defeated the University of Redlands Bulldogs (1-10) by a score of 15-9.
The Spartans were just able to edge Redlands offensively, as they were able to score 15 points on 38 shots which was good for a .395 shot percentage.
As for the Bulldogs, they were not as fortunate when attempting to score, only putting up nine points on the scoreboard with an abysmal .273 shot percentage.
While they were having difficulty scoring the ball, the Bulldogs had no lack of opportunities, as they were given multiple looks due to the 13 exclusions charged against SJSU and three penalty fouls in which Redlands converted for two points.
This Sunday victory was provided by sophomore Connor MacMillan, freshman Bende Pardi and sophomore Mark Kis who combined for nine points.
Not only did they hit the back of the net multiple times, but they did so efficiently, scoring on nine of thirteen attempts.
The goalkeeper tandem of junior Noah Pendleton and freshman Jamie Steingraf did what they could to keep the Bulldogs off of the board, but allowed nine points to score while saving 16 for the Spartans.
Follow Benny on Twitter @TheJetTalk
09/19 vs. Santa Clara
By Alejandra Vaca─ Reporter
The San Jose State’s men’s water polo (4-7 MW) defeated Santa Clara University 15-6, wrapping up the Aggie Roundup in Davis, Calif.
Senior goalkeeper Yahav Fire was credited for the win.
Nine Spartans contributed by putting numbers on the board.
Seniors Ary Kamen and Neils Hofmeijer each scored a point, as well as sophomore Oliver Grant and freshman Laszlo Szieben.
Szieben’s score resulted in a powerplay after he beat the goalie and sent the ball to the cage.
Sophomore Mark Kis and senior Neil Arnett scored a pair of points each.
In his first season with the Spartans, freshman Bence Szabo scored three goals, two of them being powerplays.
During the first period, he scored his first goal resulting in a powerplay after Utku Karhan assisted him on a 6-on-5.
In the second period, Szabo fired another shot resulting in another powerplay after freshman Bende Pardi assisted with an extra attacker.
Sophomore Gal Haimovich also left the pool with three goals, scoring a goal in the first three periods.
By the fourth period, the Spartans tired out a bit and allowed the Broncos to score six goals, finalizing the game 15-6.
SJSU concluded the Aggies Roundup 2-3, winning its last two matches today. The Spartans defeated the University of Redlands in the morning 15-9.
The Spartans will take a few days off before they return to compete again at the Mountain Pacific Invitational in Berkeley, Calif. on Sept. 24.
Follow Alejandra on Twitter @alejandravacas