By Lindsey Boyd (@lindsboyd3):
No. 11 San Jose State took advantage of the five-on-six power plays against No. 18 Cal Baptist and No. 15 Harvard to carve out two wins, 14-9 and 16-14 respectively.
In a typical East vs West game, Harvard tested SJSU. The Crimson led by one point for most of the game but the Spartans held on. In the fourth quarter alone, SJSU tied the game four times until sophomore driver Ben Hauschild finally broke the lead, 14-13.
Freshman 2-meter Luka Cupic stopped the nine points of back and forth play and ruined Harvard’s hope of tying the game. Cupic scored the last goal, ending it 16-14.
The Crimson gave SJSU it’s final two points in penalty shots which were scored by Jacob Mercep and junior utility Bendeguz Toth.
Unlike the Harvard game, SJSU came out guns ablaze against Cal Baptist in the first half. Mercep had four goals in a row the first period alone, while sophomore 2-Meter Finn Pardon, sophomore driver Ashley Castle and Hauschild added one a piece to make it 7-2.
Cal Baptist tied the game 8-8 late in the second, but the Spartans easily dug out another lead with a 6-0 run in the last half of the game.
Mercep had six points in total against Cal Baptist, marking his seventh game of the season with six or more points.
The Spartans will finish the Julian Fraser Memorial Tournament Oct. 22 with a 9 a.m. game against Wagner and a 1 p.m. game against Loyola Marymount.