By Andrew Talamantes:
The San Jose State men’s water polo club embarked on a weekend-long trip to Cal Maritime Academy and outscored its opponents 47-32 last weekend.
These exhibitions came against each of UC Davis’ A and B teams, respectively, No. 9 UC Merced and No. 6 Stanford. The Spartans won three of the four slots.
SJSU began its Saturday on a high note, upsetting the Cardinal, 10-8. Spartan senior John Moon led the team with four goals followed by two goals from Joel Vargas. Stanford did its best to keep up with a strong offensive showing from Sean Ligbame who scored five goals in the game.
Four hours later, with the momentum off a hard-earned victory over No. 6 Stanford, the Spartans shifted their focus to UC Davis. Looking for its second win of the day, SJSU managed to pull away from Davis after the second quarter leading 11-4. Michael Rodriguez showed athleticism and effort, scoring five goals along with John Moon who scored three goals.
The Aggies played tough but were overwhelmed by a combination of offensive mishaps, several personal fouls and ejections. SJSU won the match, 15-6.
On Sunday, SJSU opened up its doubleheader against top-10 opponent UC Merced. The Bobcats proved to be no match for the Spartans who downed Merced, 16-3.
Later that afternoon, San Jose State began its fourth and final game of the weekend against UC Davis, only this time, it was playing Davis’ A team which is ranked No. 5. Although the Spartans fought hard, their three-game win streak came to an end as they lost 15-6.
SJSU’s next match is against the University of California-Berkeley this Saturday at 10 a.m. at UC Santa Cruz.