By Christian Vieyra (@thecvieyra)– Spear Reporter | Photo courtesy of SJSU Athletics
SJSU men’s water polo suffered its first two losses of the season losing to No. 15 Loyola Marymount in the first match at 10:30 a.m. and to No. 13 UC Santa Barbara at 1:30 today at Burns Aquatic Center in Los Angeles, Calif. The Spartans could not recover from deficits after both teams gained a larger lead.
Vs. Loyola Marymount
Ninth-ranked SJSU men’s water polo failed to mount a comeback after 15th-ranked Loyola Marymount scored three unanswered goals to start the second half, ultimately amounting to a 17-12 loss for the Spartans.
The Spartans did not have a lead the whole match, despite having seven different goal scorers and leading the Lions in shots with 38 compared to 31.
After a tightly contested first half that ended in a 7-6 score, the Lions would out-score the Spartans 5-3 in the final two quarters of the match. Loyola Marymount’s senior attacker Jonny Rimlinger led the Lions with five goals.
SJSU would go on a four-goal rally in to lessen Loyola Marymount’s lead to 12-11 in the fourth quarter, but it could not overcome the deficit.
Spartans sophomore Maro Tiozzo, junior László Szieben, sophomore Erik Duesund and sophomore Mateja Bosic each tallied two goals. SJSU’s senior Márk Kis, sophomore Nikki Matheisen, Junior Bence Szabo and senior Jamie Steingraf also scored.
Vs. UC Santa Barbara
SJSU’s men’s water polo lost its second match of the day against the 13th-ranked UC Santa Barbara 13-9.
The Gauchos (8-6) controlled the match, gaining the lead early in the first quarter and maintaining it throughout the match.
Szabo led the Spartans in scoring a hat-trick. Junior attacker Adam Gyenis lead the Gauchos in scoring also notching a hat-trick.
The Gauchos started the match in dominate fashion, scoring five goals in the first quarter while holding the Spartans to two.
UC Santa Barbara held San Jose State to one goal in both the second and third quarter.
The 2-2 Spartans look to regroup in a rematch against UC Davis in the Big West – WCC Challenge starting at 11:45 a.m. on Sept. 30 in Irvine, Calif.