April 29, 2017
Los Angeles, Calif.----- The San Jose State University women's water polo season came to end with a 10-9 loss to CSU Bakersfield in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) consolation round match.
The Spartans (10-19) had a chance on each of their final two possessions to tie the score at 10-10 and potentially force overtime, but committed a turnover on an errant pass before taking a shot on goal.
San Jose State was forced to come from behind the entire second half after CSU Bakersfield broke a 3-3 second-quarter tie with three unanswered goals for a 6-3 halftime lead. Three times, once in the third quarter and twice in fourth, the Spartans came within a goal, but never had the equalizer. Despite trailing 10-7 with 3:34 to play, Sierra Painter poured in a pair of scores 36 seconds apart to give San Jose State hope.
"That was the silver lining. We never gave up. We kept fighting and that is something we can build on," said Spartans head coach Gabor Sarusi.
The Spartans fell behind mainly on the play of Roadrunners' leading scorer Ashley Paz who led all players with six goals. Two of her goals came on power plays and a third was a key 5-meter penalty shot conversion at 6:29 in the fourth for an 8-6 lead. In two matches against San Jose State this season, Paz scored 10 times, more than any individual player against the Spartans.
"We didn't do a good job of taking her out of the game," he said about CSU Bakersfield's top player.
CSU Bakersfield (13-16), which was 4-of-8 on the power play in the 8-7 regular season loss to San Jose State, was even better with a player advantage converting 6-of-9 chances. The Spartans were 3-of-9.
"We turned the ball over too many times. They converted on their 6-on-5's and we didn't," the San Jose State coach said about power play opportunities for the two teams.
Painter, Carla Toha Vilanova, and McKenna Yates each scored twice for San Jose State. Klaudia Paradi, Donia Momen and Sheila Jensen each had a goal.
Spartan goalkeeper Katelynn Thompson stopped 10 CSU Bakersfield shots. Courtney Wahlstrom of the Roadrunners was credited with nine saves, four of them in the second quarter when San Jose State went scoreless.
San Jose State University Women's Water Polo
Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championship Tournament
Spieker Aquatic Complex, Los Angeles, Calif.
April 29, 2017
Consolation round final score: CSU Bakersfield 10, San Jose State 9.
| Score by Quarters | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| CSU Bakersfield (13-16) | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 10 |
| San Jose State (10-19) | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 9 |
| Goal scoring |
| CSU Bakersfield -- Ashley Paz, 6; Krista Jensen, 2; Cassandra Ream, Tancy Aldridge, 1, each. |
| San Jose State -- Sierra Painter, Carla Toha Vilanova, McKenna Yates, 2, each; Klaudia Paradi, Donia Momen, Sheila Jensen, 1, each. |
| Goalkeeper saves |
| CSU Bakersfield -- Courtney Wahlstrom, 9. |
| San Jose State -- Katelynn Thompson, 10. |
| Ejections |
| CSU Bakersfield -- 9. |
| San Jose State -- 10. |