By Aidan Bostic (@bostic_aidan) – Spear Reporter
San Jose State men’s water polo (5-8, 0-0 GCC) lost to Stanford (14-0, 0-0 MPSF) 14-7, in a near upset at the Avery Aquatics Center.
The Spartans are coming off a loss against UC San Diego, as their losing streak increases to three following the loss to Stanford.
The Spartans were playing exceptionally well against the No. 1 seed to start the game.
Sophomore Bende Pardi scored the first goal of the game to give SJSU an early lead. Although they started out strong, the Spartans gave up three goals to go down, 3-1.
In the second quarter, SJSU freshman Javi Ibanez and Pardi each had a goal to tie the game 3-3 before halftime. It was a well-played first half and SJSU hoped to dish out the first loss to an undefeated Stanford team.
In the third quarter the teams went blow-for-blow, with neither side pulling away. Stanford scored early in the third quarter but Pardi stepped up once again for SJSU to tie the game, 4-4.
SJSU water polo gave up another goal, but Ibanez came back with his second goal of the game to tie it 5-5. Stanford would retaliate with a goal of its own, but Pardi put the team on his back, scoring again and tying the game 6-6.
The Spartans gave up one more goal at the end of the third and found themselves down 7-6 going into the fourth.
SJSU put up a fight against Stanford for the entire game and it nearly pulled the upset, but number one seeds are going to do what number one seeds do.
Although the Spartans kept the game close through three quarters, they gave up four goals early in the fourth quarter to go down 11-6. Ibanez would score one last goal to make it a 11-7 game, but it was not enough to mount a comeback. SJSU gave up three more goals, losing the game 14-7.
Despite the lopsided fourth quarter, SJSU water polo was able to hang around for a majority of the game, with no telling who would win. It was a display of the teams’ resilience and even though SJSU lost, it was a commendable performance against an undefeated Stanford team.
Pardi was the goal leader of the game with four goals on 80% shooting. Ibanez had three goals on 100% shooting.
SJSU water polo plays USC in Los Angeles at Uytengsu Aquatic Center on Saturday, Oct. 8 at 12 p.m.