By Jessica Jimenez — Reporter
No.13 San Jose State women’s water polo (3-7, 0–1 MPSF) dropped both of its games Saturday afternoon, as it competed in a two-game mini tournament at UCLA.
Playing No. 5 UC Irvine (5-2), SJSU trailed 11-7 for its first game and fell 13-11 to No.14 Cal State University Long Beach (4-0).
The morning game began with UCI sophomore center Piper Smith quickly scoring back-to-back goals.
The Anteaters quickly went on to reach the back of the net two more times.
SJSU junior driver Lili Urvari scored two goals a piece during the first and was followed by a shot from sophomore utility player Olga Descalzi Portell, which gave the Spartans a boost.
The Anteaters remained ahead and closed out the quarter 4-2.
In the second half of the game, freshman attacker Lior Ben David and junior utility player Riley Agerbeek led the team with three goals.
Their efforts were not enough as SJSU could not catch up to UCI and the third quarter ended 10-6.
Midway through the fourth quarter, Agerbeek scored for the third and final time for the Spartans.
UCI closed out the morning with one more goal ending the game 11-7.
Descalzi Portell took an impressive eight shots and had two assists for the duration of the game.
Opening up the afternoon match-up, Urvari was on a roll once again and scored two goals for the Spartans in the fourth and sixth minute mark.
On top of that she had an assist to Descalzi Portell to make it three for SJSU.
CSULB quickly answered back and scored three goals.
With one second left into play the Sharks fired past sophomore goalkeeper Hannah Henry to close out the quarter 4-3.
Sophomore utility player Emma Hank scored on an even strength play during the second.
Descalzi Portell once again shot past the Sharks’ goalie with assistance from Spartan goalie Henry.
Both teams scored two goals each but CSULB stayed leading their team 6-5.
For the third and fourth quarters of the game, the Spartans had consecutive goals from junior 2-meter defenders Isabella Schmidt, Tyanna Supreme and another goal from Descalzi Portell.
Keeping it a close contest, the Spartans faced a one-goal deficit for most of the matchup.
SJSU ultimately fell 13-11 to CSULB.
The Spartans remained strong throughout each quarter with good defensive plays and created ample opportunities to strike at the Sharks net, a whopping 34 shots taken.
With a two game loss, the Spartans will need to bounce back as they head up to UC Davis on Feb. 15 for a 12 p.m. game.
Follow Jessica on Twitter @jessicajim06