By Isabella Dandoy – (@DandoyIsabella) – Spear Reporter
SJSU women’s water polo (0-1 MPSF, 12-12 overall) fell to UCLA (1-1 MPSF, 13-14 overall) today at its first home match of the season, losing 17-7.
This marks the first conference matchup for the Spartans who just came off a successful weekend at the Michigan Invitational.
Sophomore Maiken Pardon, fifth-year Kylee Jansen, and redshirt freshman Kielle Leggo scored two goals apiece. Freshman Sinia Plotz also made her way onto the board with a goal in the second period.
Goalkeeper and graduate student Hannah Henry had a .346 save percentage and a total of nine saves. She also led the team with two steals.
SJSU’s performance on offense was brimming with turnovers and missed shot attempts. The Spartans took 24 shots, with senior Lior Ben David, Plotz, and Pardon each having five attempts.
Only seven of those attempts hit the back of the net. The rest of them inaccurately hit off the post or got into the hands of UCLA’s defense.
Turnovers also halted the Spartans on offense. SJSU had 20 turnovers throughout the entire game. Shot clock expiration was another factor in SJSU’s uneventful possessions and eventual turnovers.
Both UCLA and SJSU went 2-5 on powerplays. Each team had six exclusions apiece.
Although the loss was pretty evident, the Spartans held the Bruins pretty close in the first half. By the second period, the team was only down 2-6. The Spartans scored three goals in the fourth period.
SJSU kept the same energy and intensity throughout the game, which is incredibly important when facing a nationally ranked opponent like UCLA.
SJSU women’s water polo, who now have a .500 PCT, will host the MPSF Conference in its very own SRAC in late April. But before that, the team will have to finish its two-match homestand on March 26 against Fresno State (10-7).