By Gio Gaxiola — Reporter
The San Jose State men’s water polo team (16-14, 2-3 GCC) was able to stave off a late comeback effort from Pepperdine (14-13, 1-4 GCC), 10-8 in the quarterfinals of the Golden Coast Conference Tournament.
After going down 2-1 in the first quarter, the Spartan offense exploded for six goals in the second quarter. Including a pair of goals scored in a span of 30 secs.
Freshman utility player Marko Radanovich managed to score two goals on two shot attempts.
SJSU senior middle defender Niels Hofmeijer also had two goals in five shot attempts. Hofmeijer has been a shark in the water all season as he leads the GCC in sprint wins with 71. The next closest number is 30. This proves that Hofmeijer is one of the fastest swimmers in the conference.
Junior driver Adam Bado had a team high four assists to go along with his two steals.
Senior goalkeeper Yahav Fire managed to pick up the win having 14 saves and three steals. Fire leads the GCC in saves with 264 during the season. He is also second in the conference with a .510 save percentage. Fire will have to continue to be a wall if the Spartans wanna finish the season as champs.
The loss goes to Pepperdine senior goalkeeper John Claude Marco, who allowed 10 goals but had 12 saves.
The Spartans advance in the GCC tournament and take on No. 1 seed Long Beach State on Saturday at 7 p.m. in Irvine, Calif.
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