By Briannah McGee- Spear Reporter | Senior utility player Louis Fehrensen getting ready to shoot the ball against No. 2 USC (Photo by Briannah McGee – Spear Photographer)
No. 11 San Jose State men’s water polo (5-4, 0-0 WCC) fell to No. 2 University of Southern California (8-0, 0-0 MPSF) 16-7 on Saturday at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Invite in Palo Alto, Calif.
The Spartans opened the game with 2 goals, but they struggled to contain the Trojans’ offense throughout the match, as USC responded with 6 unanswered goals to take control of the match.
Senior utility player Louis Fehrensen opened the scoring for the Spartans before senior driver Mitchell Keightley added another.
SJSU continued to create offensive opportunities, recording 18 shot attempts, but struggled to consistently finish against USC’s defense and goalkeeper Charles Mills.
Sophomore driver Aidan Johnson also found the back of the net, while freshman drivers Jack Elder, Vince Biros and Palmer Macbeth also scored for the Spartans. Macbeth ended up scoring twice throughout the match.
Despite generating several quality shots on goal, the Spartans were unable to match USC’s efficiency on the offensive end.
The Trojans continued to find scoring opportunities throughout the match, capitalizing on the Spartans’ defensive struggles.
The loss came one day after the Spartans defeated No. 8 Princeton 14-12 in a fourth-quarter comeback.
SJSU entered the MPSF Invitational as the No. 10 seed and has been ranked No. 11 nationally since then.
The Spartans will continue the MPSF Invitational against California State University, Long Beach at 4:40 p.m. in Palo Alto, Calif.
