By Bryan Reos – Spear Reporter | The Spartans mens water polo rehydrate against Pacific on Oct. 9, 2026 (Photo by Mitchell Park – Spear Photographer)
No. 16 San Jose State men’s water polo (6-11, 0-3 WCC) fell to the No. 8 Loyola Marymount (13-6, 4-0 WCC), 13-9, at the Burns Aquatics Center in Los Angeles, Calif.
The Spartans kept the game competitive, trailing 6-4 at halftime before LMU went on a run, scoring five straight goals in the third quarter and adding two more early in the fourth to take a 13-4 lead.
LMU junior attack Nico Furneaux led in scoring with 4 goals, all coming in the first half. Freshman attack Luke Dimic followed with 3 goals in the second half, scoring 2 in the third quarter and one in the fourth quarter.
The Spartans made a late push of their own in the fourth quarter, scoring five goals as senior driver Mitchell Keightley, who led the team in goals with 2, kicked off the run with an assist from junior driver Zach Ramans, who had 3 assists in the game.
Senior center Giancarlo Marquez, junior driver Zalan Hegedus, senior utility Louis Fehrensen and sophomore center Liam Dodunski each scored to help complete the run, but it wasn’t enough.
Junior two-meter defense Mateja Cetkovic and Keightley opened up the scoring for the Spartans in the first quarter after LMU scored three consecutive goals. Freshman driver duo Aron Sárfalvi and Vince Biros scored in the second quarter as the Spartans trailed by two at halftime.
Senior goalkeeper Alexey Poletaev had 9 saves and freshman goalkeeper Stellen Karkazis had 3 saves, helping the Spartans stay alive late in the game.
“The last quarter was definitely promising, but unfortunately it’s not enough in our conference to play three good quarters to win a game,” SJSU head coach Gabor Sarusi said.
The Spartans will face Pepperdine at 1 p.m. Sunday at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool in Malibu, Calif.
