Lindsey Boyd (@lindsboyd3):
41 seconds remain in the first half of the season opener.
Freshman driver Justin Pickering scores with an assist from sophomore utility Giacomo Lovatellie. The halftime whistle blows and the Spartans are down by three goals.
Three goals down to Santa Clara University — the team that SJSU beats in the season opener every year?
That’s the situation.
“They got a point to prove and they are going to come thirsty,” said sophomore driver Ben Hausechild the week leading up to the much anticipated rivalry game.
Last year, the Broncos penciled in a 10-9 loss in their stat book against San Jose State. Falling short by one point last year, meant Santa Clara was not going to let SJSU easily win. They would have to fight for it.
By the looks of the first half, the Broncos were a new team in 2017. Taking control of the first six minutes of the game, they scored the only three goals. Four more shots were nailed in to finish the first half ahead 6-3 after capitalizing on the Spartans offensive turnovers and weak passes.
“I think we came out our first game really tired,” said sophomore goalkeeper TJ Palmer, “We weren’t really warmed up and so when we came out we weren’t really ready to play. It took us about two quarters to get warm.”
Halftime was a chance for the Spartans to regroup and change the tide of the game.
As soon as the whistle blew for third quarter, it was like Al Pacino fumbling to light his cigar. The Spartans new offensive tactics lit the match, and their defensive close outs added pressure on Santa Clara. Weak passing was cleaned up and turnovers were fewer and farther between so SJSU could blow out their competition.
Within the first minute, sophomore utility Jackson Kennedy got the comeback going with the first goal of the half. Three more shots snapped into the net, one after the other from the outside, by junior utility Bendeguz Toth, Lovatelli, and sophomore driver Ashley Castle respectively.
“Well, our coach pretty much told us we aren’t losing to Santa Clara,” Palmer said. “They are our rivals and we haven’t lost to them yet since becoming a new program.”
A lights out third quarter comeback pushed the Spartans ahead of the Broncos 7-6. No, they were not going to lose to Santa Clara. Not this year.
In total, the Spartans shut down the Broncos with eight solid goals in the back half of the game—one point more than Santa Clara had the entire game. Four of those were thanks to Hauschild’s assists.
“We made mistakes that we’re not going to make again and we fought back,” said head coach Bruce Watson, “I knew we would come back.”
Three years and three wins has set the Spartans off to an undefeated start. Now, the test will be to see if they can keep it.
“We can only get better from here,” Palmer said.