By Mohammad Najimi (@mnajimisjsu) – Spear Reporter | Spartans’ Mateja Bosić keeps the Stanford defender at bay looking to find an open teammate. (Photo by Javen Takhar – Spear Photographer)
No. 4 Stanford (7-2) men’s water polo proved too strong down the stretch, defeating current No. 5 San Jose State (4-3) 12-5 Friday afternoon at SRAC Pool.
The game was tight early, with Stanford leading just 4-2 at halftime. But the Cardinal broke the match open in the third quarter, outscoring the Spartans 4-0, taking an 8-2 advantage into the fourth.
Stanford attackers Botond Balogh and Gianpiero Di Martire fueled the run, combining for seven goals.
SJSU goalkeeper Brendon Gyapjas did his best to keep the Spartans in the contest, recording 12 saves against a relentless Stanford attack.
However, he admitted after the game that the Cardinal exposed weaknesses the Spartans could not overcome.
“They made an amazing defense against us,” Gyapjas said. “They found our weak points, and they used it… I think I did close to my best, and we still didn’t have a chance, so that makes me really frustrated.”
SJSU’s offense sputtered all game long until the final stages, as turnovers and empty possessions limited opportunities to close the gap.
Stanford’s defense pressured SJSU into rushed shots and capitalized on counterattacks to extend its lead.
SJSU head coach Gabor Sarusi pointed directly to ball security as a decisive factor.
“Turnovers always beat [SJSU]’s counters on easy goals,” Sarusi said. “So we just didn’t play well on offense, unfortunately.”
The Spartans’ five goals is their season low, even though they had managed to create looks during the later portion of the match.
Senior utility Mitchell Keightley added some spark for SJSU’s offense in the fourth quarter. He scored twice and assisted on another goal in addition to five steals defensively.
Senior utility László Szieben also scored two goals, but the scoring came too late to threaten Stanford’s commanding lead.
After his second goal, Keightley was visibly fired up, flashing an intense expression to the crowd. He later admitted it was more a culmination of frustration at the day rather than celebrating.
“Definitely frustration,” Keightley said. “I think if the game was a little closer, maybe about intensity, but yeah definitely a frustrating day for us. That’s not who we are as a team and sorry to the people who came out because that’s not really us.”
The Bay Area rivalry was atop the stakes, with a home crowd in attendance to see if the Spartans could close the gap on one of the nation’s top teams.
Instead, Stanford displayed why it remains a national contender, seizing control after halftime and never letting up.
For Sarusi, the result was a reminder that the Spartans have strides to make against top-tier opponents.
“It’s a tough loss that we obviously wanted to win a game against Stanford or be more competitive than we were today,” Sarusi said. “But you just want to see them coming out and really prove that they are a better team.”
The Spartans will get a week to regroup before their next major test.
They host the Big West Invitational on Oct. 3–4 at 12 p.m., welcoming opponents such as UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara and Loyola Marymount.
