By Matthew Meyer (@mattmeyersjsu) – Spear Reporter | SJSU utilityman Mitchell Keightley looks to take his shot against LMU’s defense (Photo by Matthew Meyer – Spear Photographer)
Waves weren’t the only things crashing at the Spartan Recreation and Aquatic Center as the No. 6 Spartans men’s water polo team (5-3, 1-0 WCC) defeated the No. 11 Loyola Lions (4-8, 0-1 WCC) 16-13 in a heated match.
This was the first conference match of the season for both teams but the aggression and physicality demonstrated by the men in the pool could have convinced spectators that they were watching an elimination playoff match.
Spartans junior utilityman Mitchell Keightley and sophomore driver Samu Biros both earned a hat trick. Senior two-meter Maro Tiozzo, junior utilityman Giancarlo Marquez and freshman utilityman Sam Keightley each scored two goals. By the end of the match, nine different Spartans scored at least one goal.
The start of the match saw the Lions take an aggressive 2-0 lead in the first three minutes of the first period and the Spartans missing shots on goal.
“We started slow and sluggish,” Mitchell Keightley said.
But a steal from Tiozzo led to Mitchell Keightley setting up Marquez for the Spartan’s first goal of the match.
Marquez found the goal twice, tying the match at two goals apiece in the first period.
The Spartans put on a performance in the second period, with goals coming from senior attacker Erik Duesund, Biros, and Sam Keightley. Mitchell Keightley scored two goals in the period as well. The Spartans led 7-5 by the end of the second period.
After halftime, the match took an emotional turn.
Sam Keightley, who had just returned to play after not participating in last week’s match against Stanford due to a concussion, exited the game halfway through the third period with another head injury caused by an LMU player.
After Sam exited the pool, the Spartan mentality seemingly changed.
“We were like ‘okay, he’s out of the game, but we got to rally back and we got to make sure that we don’t let it slip,’” Mitchell Keightley said.
But the emotions got to the Spartans, who took Sam’s injury personally.
“A lot of us got super frustrated because of that, myself included,” Marquez said.
From that moment on, the physicality by both teams intensified, the shouting from the bench got louder, and the officials got even more involved, leading to a misconduct exclusion for Marquez.
“For me when I was taken out of the game I was frustrated, but I thought to myself: ‘what can I do to help the team now?’” Marquez said. “I knew that I could help control the bench when they were getting a little bit too heated, then bring the energy and bring up the energy with everybody else as well.”
The Lions scored five goals in the fourth period, their highest scoring period of the game. The Spartans fended off the comeback and held their narrow lead.
As the final seconds ticked off the clock, the Lions in the pool hung their heads as some on the Spartan bench came to the edge of the pool to wave goodbye to their aggressive opponents.
“It’s not a pretty win, unfortunately. It’s not our playing style. We don’t like to play like this,” Biros said. “We wanted to win like we are the better team, not because we are aggressive.”
“We let the control of the game get out of our hands and that’s something we can’t have,” Marquez said.
“Its definitely tough to contain your emotions and a lot of us didn’t, including myself,” Mitchell Keightley said. “But overall, coming away with the win it’s a good result for us.”
SJSU head coach Gabor Sarusi, who had to reign in his team after the tensions rose, hopes the rest of conference play isn’t as aggressive or emotional.
“I’m glad we’re done with the first game. Hopefully the rest of the conference games won’t be as physical as this game was,” Sarusi said.
Aside from his three goals, Mitchell Keightley finished the match with four assists and three steals. His remarkable performance drew attention from his coach and teammates.
“[I saw] more confidence. We were missing his confidence, especially in offense the last few games, and I’m glad he’s playing up to his potential,” Sarusi said.
“He had that little look in his eye after Sam got hit, he wanted it, he wanted it really bad,” Marquez said.
While the Spartans walked away victorious, there are still improvements to be made.
“I think the biggest lesson is we have to keep our lead and we have to keep the temperature low,” Biros said. “We have to keep ourselves calm and we can’t let the other team into our head because if they can, they can make our game miserable, that’s their only chance against us.”
“Just keep playing and learning from these moments and know what to do when this happens again down the line,” Sarusi said.
The Spartans are hosting the BW invitational and will face No. 8 UC Davis at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday at the SRAC.
