Sept. 5, 2015
Returning to San José State after a 34-year hiatus, the Spartans men's water polo team defeated the Santa Clara Broncos 13-7 in front of a capacity crowd at the Aquatic Center to open the season.
The #16-ranked Spartans (1-0) scored first on a shot from Vladimir Kazanskiy early in the first period. San José State never trailed in the game.
Santa Clara (0-1) tied the match at 2:29 the opening period on a strike by Will Grant.
San José State retook the lead in the first minute of the second period on a Justin Contreras' lob shot and never looked back. Contreras was the Spartans leading scorer adding three more goals in the second half.
Kazanskiy found the back of the Broncos' cage for his second goal as the Spartans pressed on offense.
Igor Miljan added two goals to extend SJSU's lead to 5-1 before Santa Clara's John Raineir closed the half on a shot with four seconds on the clock. The Spartans led 5-2 at halftime.
San José State's goalkeeper Matej Matijevic had 19 blocks in the cage, 13 of his stops came in the first half and nine in the pivotal second quarter. Metijevic left the contest with three minutes to go to a rosuing ovation from the crowd.
Blake Grove, Tyler Jamieson, Keanu Martinez, Scott Reynolds and Zachary Scudder had a goal each for the Spartans. Goalkeeper Cole Williams had 1 stop in the fourth period.
Stephen Warnick was Santa Clara's leading scorer with two goals. Joe Maestri had 11 stops for the Broncos in goal.
The Spartans host the UC Davis Aggies on Saturday, September 12, at SJSU's Aquatic Center at 12:00 p.m.
| Score by Quarters | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Santa Clara (0-1) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 7 |
| San José State (1-0) | 1 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 13 |
| Goal Scoring |
| Santa Clara - Stephen Warnick, 2; Chase Schaaf, Julian Fraser, Reilley May, John Raineir, Will Grant, 1, each. |
| San José State - Justin Contreras, 4; Vladimir Kazanskiy, Igor Miljan, 2, each; Blake Grove, Scott Reynolds, Keanu Martinez, Tyler Jamieson, Zachary Scudder, 1, each. |
| Goalkeeper Saves |
| Santa Clara - Joe Maestri (3 quarters) - 11; Troy Nadel (1 quarter) - 2. |
| San José State - Matej Matijevic (3.625 quarters), 19; Cole Williams (0.375 quarters), 1. |
| Ejections |
| Santa Clara - 7 |
| San José State - 10 |