Oct. 1, 2015
The San José State Spartans men's water polo team begins Mountain Pacific Sports Federation competition this weekend, facing the No. 3-ranked University of Southern California Trojans and No. 9-ranked Pepperdine Waves in Southern California.
Opening conference action versus the Waves (6-5, 0-0 MPSF) on Saturday, October 3, in Malibu, the Spartans conclude the two game road trip in Los Angeles against the Trojans (10-1, 1-0 MPSF) on Sunday.
"I'm looking forward to the weekend, we have improved every week and this will be a good indication of we improved," said Spartans' head coach Bruce Watson.
San José State dropped out the CWPA Top 20 rankings this week after starting its' inaugural season with a 2-8 record, receiving only five points in the voting.
With goals in seven of the Spartans' ten games, freshman driver Justin Contreras leads San José State with 12 goals, scoring a season-high four goals in the season opening win over the Santa Clara Broncos.
Two-meter defender Scott Reynolds has nine goals this season, finding the back of the cage three times in SJSU's defeat of the Fresno Pacific Sunbirds.
Additional scorers for the Spartans include 2-meter defender Igor Miljan and driver Cade Baldridge with eight goals each. Baldridge scored six goals in four games at UC Davis' Aggie Roundup. Contributing six goals each this season are 2-meter defenders Blake Grove and Vladimir Kazanskiy along with utility player Alek Dendall.
Goalkeeper Matej Matijevic continues to lead San Jose State in the cage with 99 saves, starting every game this season. Matijevic has allowed an average of 11.7 goals a game.
The Spartans return to the Aquatic Center on Sunday, October 18, to face No. 1-ranked and defending national champion UCLA Bruins and Connecticut College in a double header.
by Brian S. Stanley, SJSU athletics media relations student assistant