By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme) -Spear Reporter
San Jose State men’s water polo (5-10, 0-1 GCC) opened conference play with a 13-10 loss to Pepperdine (11-9, 1-0 GCC) on a sunny afternoon in Malibu.
Strong start for SJSU men’s water polo
Coming in on a three-game losing streak, the Spartans wanted to snap this skid early.
Sophomore utility player Laszlo Szieben kicked things off in the first period finding the twine with an assist from junior utility player Connor Macmillan.
After the opening goal, it became a back-and-forth affair with the first period finishing in a 3-3 tie.
The second period opened on a different note as Pepperdine secured the opening goal thanks to graduate student attacker Dennis Blyashov, assisted by freshman attacker Sandor Gal.
Despite the deficit, the Spartans’ play helped them take control in the second quarter with two goals from sophomore utility player Bende Pardi that came on the power play.
The second period would end with the Spartans on top by a slim lead, 7-5.
Disappointing finish at the end
Intending to extend the lead, the SJSU offense found itself on the board to kick things off, with sophomore utility player Bence Szabo scoring from an assist from freshman Javi Ibanez.
On a power play, junior center defender Nico Tierney struck gold on an assist from redshirt senior attacker Curtis Jarvis, quickly stifling the good times for the Spartans.
Pepperdine managed to cut the lead to one by making it 9-8 heading into the final period
In the fourth period, everything for the blue-and-gold on the offensive side of the ball would shrivel up.
Pepperdine started things off in the fourth with a goal from Tierney assisted by Blyashov on the power play.
The waves would then proceed to go on a four-goal run with little rebuttal from the Spartans. A few turnovers by SJSU continued to fuel an already charged Pepperdine offense.
San Jose State men’s water polo would get one goal at the end of the game but it was not enough as the final score was 13-10.
SJSU will go up against UC Irvine at its home pool on Oct. 15th at 1:00 p.m.