By Alex Stoev (@alexstoevsjsu) – Spear Reporter | Spartans Bence Kristok taking a shot at goal against UCSB’s Billy Rankin. (Photo by Marilyn Anne – Spear Photographer)
No. 6 ranked San Jose State men’s water polo took a tough loss Saturday evening against No. 16 ranked UC Santa Barbara in the BW Invitational, 13-12 at the SRAC pool.
The scoring from both sides was back-and-forth throughout the first half, with the score tied 4-4 at the end of the first quarter, and SJSU leading 8-7 at the break.
The third quarter however, is where things would swing in favor of UC Santa Barbara, outsourcing SJSU 4-1 in that frame.
With SJSU continuing to go cold, UCSB continued to get hot, starting off the second half on a 6-1 run, taking a 13-9 lead with a few minutes left in the game.
With a possible loss looming, freshman utility Bence Kristok’s second goal of the match sparked a near comeback for the Spartans, scoring three straight goals to pull within one.
“I think it gave a little bit of an energy boost and a little bit of hope for the team that we can really come back,” Kristok said.
Even with the energy surge from the team and crowd, the Spartans couldn’t punch in one last goal they needed to tie the game.
Sophomore driver Samu Biros was on fire during the first half, scoring four of the Spartans eight goals.
“I felt before the game that I didn’t give my 100% in the Davis game,” Biros said. “I knew I could do more offensively and I just wanted to do what I’m capable of.”
Biros’ big game came right after senior two-meter Maro Tiozzo had one of his own, scoring five goals in the 9-8 win against No. 8 ranked UC Davis earlier in the day.
UCSB’s redshirt senior attacker Brock Zamanian had a big game of his own to pull out the win, scoring five goals.
Three of Zamanian’s goals came during the Gauchos’ third quarter surge that helped them start to pull away.
Kristok talked about himself and the rest of the team did feel exhausted after the Davis game.
“The Davis game was very physical and I think it was a very fast game,” Kristok said. “We came to this game fresh, but I still didn’t feel the energy, either on the bench or either in the pool.”
After playing their third ranked opponent in two days, and second one of the day, Spartans coach Gabor Sarusi doesn’t think fatigue was the reason for the loss.
“I think we’re in pretty good shape,” Sarusi said. “I mean yes, you get a little bit tired but so are the other teams. I don’t think it was fatigue, I think it was more mental mistakes.”
The Spartans were only a few hours off of their comeback win against UC Davis, and had played the previous day against No. 11 ranked Loyola Marymount.
SJSU’s defense got pretty sloppy during the Gauchos’ surge, and Biros takes credit for allowing some of the goals that let that happen.
“My blocks weren’t good, unfortunately,” Biros said. “They scored some goals which were my fault and it’s on me.”
Sarusi talked about what went wrong during the third that led to their defeat.
“We didn’t put four quarters together,” Sarusi said. “We got to play better throughout the whole period. We can’t just have two good minutes and play really badly for three minutes.”
Sarusi also added that the bad play in the second half came from guys not stepping up.
“Unfortunately some of the guys that we were hoping to step up, didn’t step up, and that’s what happens,” Sarusi said.
The Spartans will look to bounce back on the road against No. 17 ranked University of the Pacific on Oct. 11 in Stockton, Calif.
