Sept. 21, 2015
The San José State men's water polo team was out matched in the tournament opener and couldn't hold onto leads late at the two day NorCal Invitational.
The No. 13 ranked Spartans (1-5, 0-0 MPSF) were swept in four games by No. 3 California Bears, No. 16 Air Force Falcons, the Chapman Panthers and South Bay rivals the Santa Clara Broncos at the Avery Aquatic Center at Stanford University on Saturday and Sunday, September 19 and 20.
California 15, San Jose State 1
Scoring back-to-back goals in the first two minutes of play for the Bears, freshman Johnny Hooper kicked off a frenzy goals that left the Spartans scrambling in a 15-1 defeat.
Hooper's two strikes were followed by a goal each from freshman Odysseas Masmanidis and junior Chandler Jerrels. The Spartans trailed 4-0 at the conclusion of the opening period.
Sophomore goalkeeper Matej Matijevic gathered 16 of his 18 blocked shots in the first half, keeping the game close for SJSU. Freshman Justin Contreras scored the Spartans' lone goal with 4:46 left in the second period. The Bears led 6-1 at the break.
Hooper added two more goals in the second and third, leading Cal with four goals.
Air Force 11, San Jose State 8
San José State exchanged the lead five time, taking the lead into the half but was unable to stop Air Force from soaring after the break. The Falcons went on a 6-1 run to close out the Spartans, 11-8.
Scoring the opening goal for the Spartans in first minute of action was junior Scott Reynolds. Freshman Alek Dendall added a second goal as the SJSU trailed Air Force 3-2 at the end of one.
Sophomore Igor Miljan and junior Vladimir Kazanskiy scored consecutive goals in the second to recapture the lead for Spartans. Reynolds, junior Kameron Schlegel and freshman Rion Parenteau added three more to give SJSU a 7-5 lead at the mid-way point.
The Falcons scored first on a shot by junior Eric Curia in the third period as Air Force adds on five more goals. Scoring San José State's only second half goal was junior Nick Serratos.
In goal for the Spartans, Matijevic blocked 10 shot attempts by Air Force.
Chapman 13, San Jose State 11
San José State grabbed the lead on a goal by junior Blake Grove early in the first and held on until midway through the third as the Chapman Panthers edge the Spartans, 13-11.
The Spartans led 7-5 at half with two goals by Contreras and single shots from Reynolds, Dendall, Miljan and junior Keanu Martinez.
Freshman Cade Baldridge score twice in the third and fourth while Grove and Martinez each scored their second goal of the match.
Goalkeepers Matijevic and freshman Adam Sandor split time in the cage for the Spartans, each had six saves in a half of competition.
Santa Clara 10, San Jose State 4
In a rematch from San José State's season opening win over Santa Clara, the Broncos shut out the Spartans in the final two periods to win 10-4.
The Spartans' Grove, Miljan, Martinez and Serratos each had one goal.
Matijevic left the contest at 1:42 in the third period after drawing his third exclusion foul, he had nine saves. Freshman Cole Williams picked up six saves in relief.
by Brian S. Stanley, SJSU athletics media relations student assistant