By Sebastian Ramos – Spear Reporter (photo by Alexis Corona)
San Jose State men’s water polo (15-6) capped off its regular season in dominant fashion, defeating Air Force (13-9) 19-9 on Sunday at the SRAC Pool during a spirited Senior Day celebration.
The Spartans came out the gate leading 4-1 in the first quarter to establish early control despite the Falcons aggressive defense throughout the game. This push reflected the depth for SJSU as four different Spartans went on to score in the first quarter.
This trend continued throughout the rest of the match as 11 different players on SJSU ended up scoring throughout the course of the match.
The defensive effort was equally impressive for the Spartans anchored by sophomore goalkeepers Brendon Gyapjas and Alexy Poletaev allowing only nine points after 38 shot attempts.
“This was probably the first time we played as a team really well on defense,” head coach Gabor Sarusi said. “In the first half we only gave up [two] goals so I thought [that] was definitely the difference in this game [from] previous games” .
Prior to the match, SJSU honored its senior class in a pregame ceremony, recognizing their contributions to the program.. The energy from the celebration carried into the pool as the Spartans delivered one of their most complete performances of the season.
With the regular season wrapped up, SJSU will turn its attention to the conference tournament with the third seed facing sixth seeded Air Force once more. The swim-off is scheduled for noon Friday at the Douglass M. Eberhardt Aquatics Center in Stockton, Calif.
