By Andrew Hartley(andrewhart1ey) – Spear Reporter
The Spartans (8-10) came out firing Saturday for 28 goals on the third day of the Santa Clara Tournament. They end the tournament with strong wins against CSU East Bay (5-8) 13-5 and host school Santa Clara (5-8) 15-6.
Unselfishness was the Spartans motto Saturday as nine different players scored in both games.
However, that doesn’t break the season-high they set just last week against CSU Monterey Bay where 10 different players scored.
They have now won seven of their last eight matchups and are molding into form as conference play approaches.
Reigning MPSF Newcomer of the Week Sinia Plotz led the team in scoring on the third day of the tournament with five goals.
“These are great local matchups for us that can get our Spartans in the game this weekend,” said Head Coach Beth Harberts.
In the first game of the day against CSU East Bay, they scored at a rate of 42%. By the end of the first half, the Spartans had already scored more goals than the Pioneers would for the entirety of the match.
Not only were they scoring efficiently, but they only had six exclusions in game one making for one of the cleanest games they’ve played all year.
More of the same followed against Santa Clara as they converted on 55% of their shots taken.
The Spartans capitalized on all three of their penalty shots making the most of their given opportunities.
Both goalkeepers Hannah Henry and Elaina Davey saw action in both games with Henry having a save percentage above .600 in both matches.
Notably, all of this scoring occurred without team goal leader Olga Descalzi playing in either contest.
SJSU will look to continue this momentum into Ann Arbor, MI next week at the Michigan Invitational. On Saturday, they’ll play St. Frances college Brooklyn and the University of Michigan where they’ll look for revenge from a prior matchup with the Wolverines.
