By Vincent Rupena – Spear Reporter
SJSU junior Renee Fleming rising out of the water loading up to shoot | Photo via SJSU athletics
No. 17 San Jose State women’s water polo went 2-1 at the Aztec Invitational March 8-9. The Spartans opened up the two-day tournament with a victory against CSU Northridge 9-4.
The Spartans were efficient shooting the ball against the Matadors going 9-9. 100%. Graduate Student Ivanna Anderson-Villela scored her first hat-trick of the season going 3-3 in the game.
SJSU faced off against CSU Fullerton in the second game on day one.
SJSU managed to pull away in the second after going back-and-forth in the first quarter. SJSU took advantage of its power play opportunities going 6-9. Three of those scores came in the second quarter.
The biggest challenge SJSU faced in the tournament was No. 8 Princeton. It held its own in the tough matchup resulting in a 9-7 loss.
The elite play from Spartan junior goalkeeper Zsofia Hadju that kept them in the game. Finishing the match with nine saves out of 22 shot attempts.
The Tigers possessed a two-goal lead coming into the third period and the game could have easily gotten out of control had Hadju not saved four straight shots. Hadju’s saves led to back-to-back goals for the Spartans in now a tie game.
Princeton scored the leading point on a power play with 2:57 remaining. The goal came less than 30 seconds of game-time after Anderson-Villela got called out for an exclusion. Without the penalty, SJSU had a real chance at upsetting the higher ranked Tigers.
“We’re seeing progress as a team and we’re just having a lot of fun so we’re looking forward to next weekend,” SJSU head coach Beth Harberts said. The tournament ended for SJSU when its last match against No. 13 UCSD was canceled due to game delays.
The Spartans are scheduled to play UCLA next at 1 p.m. on March 17 in Los Angeles.