By Jonathan Canas (@jonathancanas_) – Spear Reporter
Senior Gal Haimovich lining up to shoot | Photo by Titus Wilkinson – The Spear
SJSU men’s water polo defeated Pacific 9-7 for the first time in program history on Oct. 29 at the Douglas M. Eberhardt Aquatics Center.
The No. 14 Spartans (8-8) came off to a hot start against the No. 16 Tigers (11-11), getting an early 3-1 lead in the first eight minutes.
Spartan junior center Bence Szabo notched two of his four goals in the first period. Sophomore driver Mateja Bosić scored the other goal.
In a flash, the Tigers scored two goals to open the second period. Junior Ran Souva tallied the first goal in just over a minute of the second period followed by a goal from fellow Junior Gil Gvishi just 50 seconds later to make it 3-3.
Afterwards, Tigers graduate student Stefan Vavic scored the go-ahead goal with 13 seconds left to make it 4-3 to end the first half.
Surprisingly, Szabo made his third goal of the game official in just 45 seconds to tie the game to open up the second half making it 4-4.
Later, sophomore Mario Tiozzo gave the Spartans the lead with 4:45 left to go in the third at 5-4.
After being shut out the entire second period, the Spartans scored five unanswered goals in the third, making it 8-4 at the end of the third period.
However, the Tigers refused to back down as Vavic struck on a five-meter penalty with under two minutes to go for his second goal of the period and third goal of the match.
Shortly after, freshman Spencer Bardack made it a one score game at 8-7 with under a minute to go.
Pacific saw its hopes dashed after an open net goal from Bosic in the final three seconds, ending in a 9-7 game.
With Szabo’s four-goal game, he now leads the team in goals with 26.
On the defensive side of things, freshman goalkeeper Brendon Gyapjas recorded seven saves to keep the Spartans in the game.
SJSU men’s water polo will host Pepperdine on Saturday at the Spartan Recreation and Aquatic Center at 1 p.m.