By Madyson Montoya (@MadysonMontoya):
It was a busy weekend for women’s water polo as they went to SoCal to participate in the Loyola Marymount Invitational where they dragged two games into a series of overtimes.
The No. 21 Spartans (8-13) started the invite off strong coming out on top over No. 11 LMU after pushing the game into four overtimes finishing with an 8-7 win.
SJSU created a wide, 6-1 gap in the second quarter but LMU went on a 6-0 run. It lead by one until sophomore Caroline Kerwin’s goal tied the game with 1:22 left.
The match went into two overtimes and two sudden victory overtimes until senior Jordan Milich-Misikini ended it with a goal at the 26 second mark.
The Spartans didn’t slow down and gained another victory later in the day against Fresno Pacific.
Senior Klaudia Paradi and freshman Tyanna Supreme both had hat tricks, contributing largely to the 9-6 win. Junior goalkeeper Shannon Spence had a career-high 10 saves against the Sunbirds.
The first opponent on Saturday was No. 23 Marist which was the longest game of the invite, going five periods into overtime.
SJSU had the lead until the fourth quarter, when the Red Foxes came back to take a one point advantage. In the final 40 seconds, freshman Lili Uvari scored to throw the match into overtime.
Junior Guara Garcia Delgado scored the winning goal in the first minute of the third sudden victory overtime clenching a 6-5 Spartan win.
All hopes for an undefeated weekend were shattered for the Spartans as they went into their final match of the invitational against No. 9 Michigan.
The Wolverine defense was on it, and did not let the Spartans score until the middle of the second quarter. SJSU managed to put up points in the last three quarters, but SJSU lost 12-8, ending their tournament a solid 3-1.
Sunday afternoon, SJSU went up against No. 4 UCLA to officially start conference play but took a 15-4 defeat.
Women’s water polo will play Santa Clara next Saturday at 12 p.m.