By Larry Larkin (@larrylarkinsjsu) – Spear Reporter
Goalkeeper Grace Smith prepares to take on a shot in the game against Arizona State on March 23, 2024. I Photo by Andrew Hartley – The Spear
No. 17 San Jose State women’s water polo (9-10, 0-3 MPSF) lost a high-scoring thriller at home Saturday to No. 9 Arizona State (20-4, 1-1 MPSF) 15-10.
It was a game the Spartans could’ve easily fell way behind but kept it relatively close. The Spartans never had a lead despite the competitive fight.
Even with the loss, SJSU women’s water polo head coach Beth Harberts was impressed with her team’s performance.
“Overall, I think that the game was successful,” Harberts said. “We were still able to score upwards of 10 goals on a top-10 ranked team and so it really was showing our progress and our mindset as we’re trying to get after it.”
https://sjsuspartans.com/news/2024/03/23/beth-harberts-asu-recap
The Spartans had no answer for senior Luca Petovary as she scored six goals on seven shots for the Sun Devils and assisted on three others.
After SJSU trailed 7-3 at halftime, the second half was an even higher-scoring affair with Arizona State outscoring SJSU 8-7.
Six Spartans scored at least one goal, but it wasn’t enough as they were playing catch-up for most of the game.
Trailing 9-5 entering the fourth quarter, SJSU was in it to make one final push.
Arizona State extended its lead to 15-9 with 5:01 remaining in regulation putting the game away.
SJSU scored one more goal via sophomore Sinia Plotz’s penalty shot with 39 seconds remaining. Plotz had a big game offensively, scoring three goals on four shots and recording one assist.
Junior Lucy Miszewski was a big contributor on both ends of the pool, scoring two goals on four shots offensively and had four steals on defense.
SJSU’s next game is scheduled for 1 p.m. April 7 at home against USC.