Aidan Bostic (@bostic_aidan) – Spear Reporter
San Jose State men’s water polo (4-12, 0-2 GCC) lost to No. 9 UC Irvine (11-8, 1-0 GCC )13-10, in a nail-biter that came down to the final minutes.
SJSU men’s water polo came into the match fresh off a loss to No. 11 Pepperdine and they are still seeking their first conference win.
Sophomore Bence Szabo kicked things off for the Spartans with a goal to tie the game 1-1 after giving up an early lead. SJSU men’s water polo gave up two more goals to go down 3-1 halfway through the first quarter.
The intensity started to pick up for the Spartans when freshman Nikola Nikolic scored a goal to close out the first quarter. Graduate student Niels Hofmeijer scored a goal early in the second to tie the game, 3-3.
UC Irvine did not shy away, coming back with a goal of its own. Sophomore Bende Pardi decided to get in on the action, scoring a goal to tie the game 4-4.
The back-and-forth scoring continued with different Spartans contributing along the way. SJSU gave up another goal, but freshman Javi Ibanez was able to tie it up with two minutes left in the first half.
Sophomore Dylan Patist scored back-to-back goals for UC Irvine to give it a 7-5 lead. Nikolic scored to cut the deficit going into the half. Patist would tack on one more goal with 29 seconds left and the Spartans were down 8-6 at the half.
Junior Mark Kis and Ibanez scored back-to-back goals to tie the game, 8-8. SJSU men’s water polo continued to battle throughout the third quarter and neither team was able to pull away.
The Spartans gave up another goal, but Pardi was able to tie it 9-9, with his second goal of the day. The Spartans gave up one final goal with only a second left in the third quarter and they went into the fourth down, 10-9.
Pardi scored yet again early in the fourth to tie the game, 10-10.
Despite going back-and-forth all game, the Spartans gave up three goals unanswered and lost the match, after keeping it close for three quarters. A few defensive lapses down the line by SJSU allowed UC Irvine to generate a lead.
SJSU hung around for most of the game, but it could not seal the deal. It was a display of the team’s ability to compete down to the wire, but they are eager to put an end to their six-game losing streak.
SJSU men’s water polo play at Whittier College in Whitter, Calif. on Oct. 16 at 12 p.m.