Mohammad Najimi (@mnajimisjsu) – Spear Reporter | Spartans’ Samu Biros controls the ball looking to find an open teammate during Wednesday’s game against Team China-Shanghai. (Photo by Alex Stoev – Spear Photographer)
San Jose State men’s water polo team won its home opener Thursday night, defeating Team China-Shanghai 16-10 in an exhibition matchup at the SRAC in San Jose, Calif.
Junior utility Giancarlo Marquez, freshman utility Sam Keightley and senior driver Mateja Bosić each netted three goals to lead the way offensively for SJSU.
The Spartans dominated the opening half, racing out to an 11-2 advantage at halftime.
Junior goalkeeper Brendon Gyapjas was instrumental in that stretch, making six saves in the first two quarters and keeping China’s shooters off balance.
“I mean that was our first home game, we never played against China before so you can’t really prepare for the game,” Gyapjas said. “We only focus on ourselves basically, basic defensive stuff and it works well. We’re really working for the future.”
SJSU head coach Gabor Sarusi credited his team for matching China’s physicality, which resulted in heavy fouling throughout the contest.
“You know, we’ve been having a pretty tough schedule already. We played some really good teams, like Long Beach, Cal and Davis, and that’s just the way water polo is played right now,” Sarusi said. “So it’s not like it was new to them. They’re kind of expecting it at this point.”
China regrouped in the fourth quarter, switching up its defensive look and capitalizing as SJSU rotated deeper into its bench. With the game in hand, Sarusi gave several Spartans their first action of the season.
“Strategically, they switched their defense a little bit, which we were a little bit surprised on, but also we went really deep on our bench,” Sarusi said. “Some of the guys, this was their first game this whole season, so I think they had to do a little bit more of that.”
Marquez pointed to the positives of a strong first half while recognizing the areas of improvement from the closing minutes.
“I think it’s important to note that in our first half, we only let in two goals,” Marquez said.
He noted that giving more players time in the second half led to mixed results, but reviewing film would help the team clean things up before facing Stanford.
The game also gave the Spartans an early chance to showcase themselves in front of their home crowd, which filled the SRAC pool deck on Wednesday night.
“I think everybody wants to defend the house. We always go into that with that mentality to all of our home games,” Marquez said. “So getting the first win out of the way takes a little bit of that pressure off us.”
With No. 4 Stanford next on the schedule, the Spartans know they’ll need to sharpen their game against one of the nation’s elite programs.
“Absolutely. We have high hopes. We really want to be in the top four in the nation. So yeah, we’re going to try our best,” Gyapjas said. “Next match, without mercy. We try to do our best in every single practice.”
The Spartans face No. 4 Stanford Cardinal at noon on Sept. 26 at the SRAC in San Jose, Calif.
