March 4, 2018
Cambridge, Mass.----- Guara Garcia Delgado scored both San Jose State University goals in the second half as the #18-ranked Spartans held on for a 7-6 win over #15-Wagner University in a Harvard Invitational women's water polo match.
San Jose State (5-11) finished the two-day, four-match tournament with a 2-2 mark. The Spartans began the day losing, 7-6, to #22-Princeton.
"Our effort was really good and the energy I saw really made a difference," said San Jose State head coach Gabor Sarusi who freely utilized his bench throughout the tournament that included contests against three top-25 teams. The Spartans topped Brown, 10-8, and lost to host Harvard, 7-6, on the first day of the invitational at Murr Center Blodgett Pool.
"We changed the rotation in our lineup today. For the last game, everybody got to play."
Kathryn Elgin joined Garcia Delgado as a two-goal scorer in the Wagner victory. Jordan Milich-Misikini, Lili Urvari and Tyanna Supreme also scored for the Spartans against Wagner.
In each of its final day matches, San Jose State had a three-goal lead at the start of the second half in the Princeton and Wagner matches. The Spartans also went scoreless in the fourth quarter of each match
Against Wagner, the Spartans persevered with a defense that now has kept opponents under 10 goals per match in each of the last seven contests and preserved a 5-2 halftime lead. San Jose State also defended the power play well on the final day yielding just four scores on 24 opponent 6-on-5 opportunities.
"We covered a lot on the 6-on-5's. We stopped them on the perimeter and that gave us an advantage. We stopped the key players on the other teams and that helped us a lot," said Garcia Delgado who thought the team's defense against Wagner was the best overall effort of the season.
Spartan goalkeeper Katelynn Thompson made eight saves against Wagner including a pair of point-blank stops in the second half.
In the Princeton match, the Tigers were 2-of-11 on power plays, but the two that resulted in a score and a penalty shot conversion by Princeton's Haley Wan pulled the teams even at 5-5 with 5:27 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Princeton scored the first two goals in the two three-minute overtime periods. Urvari, the only San Jose State player to score in all four matches, closed the deficit to 7-6 with a score at 1:39 of the second overtime, but Wan of the Tigers responded with her third goal of the match on Princeton's next possession for the 8-6 final.
Klaudia Paradi led San Jose State in scoring against Princeton with two. Garcia Delgado, Jennifer Liu and Tyanna Supreme joined Paradi and Urvari in the scoring column. Tayler Peters was credited with 10 saves in goal for the second time in two days for San Jose State.
San Jose State has a week off and resumes play in Los Angeles, March 16-18. The Spartans will see Princeton again in the LMU Invitational at the Burns Aquatic Center on March 16. San Jose State also plays host LMU, Cal Baptist and Marist before opening Mountain Pacific Sports Federation against UCLA on Sunday, March 18, at the Spieker Aquatic Complex in a 1:00 p.m. match that will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Network.
San Jose State University women's water polo
Harvard Invitational
Murr Center Blodgett Pool, Cambridge, Mass.
March 4, 2018
| Match 11 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #15-Wagner (8-6) | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 6 |
| #18-San Jose State (5-11) | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 7 |
| Goal scoring |
| Wagner -- Daisy Nankervis, 2; Elise Begg, Franiska Milo-Sidio, Kristy Donkin, Jacqui Sjogren, 1, each. |
| San Jose State -- Guara Garcia Delgado, Kathryn Elgin, 2, each; Jordan Milich-Misikini, Lili Urvari, Tyanna Supreme, 1, each. |
| Goalkeeper saves |
| Wagner -- Katherine Campbell, n/a. |
| San Jose State -- Katelynn Thompson, 8. |
| Ejections |
| Wagner -- 10. |
| San Jose State -- 13. |
| Match 7 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT1 | OT2 | Total |
| #22-Princeton (6-4) | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 |
| #18-San Jose State (4-11) | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| Goal scoring |
| Princeton -- Haley Wan, 3; Amy Castellano, 2; Sydney Cheong, Lindsey Kelleher, Chelsea Johnson, 1, each. |
| San Jose State -- Klaudia Paradi, 2; Guara Garcia Delgado, Jennifer Liu, Lili Urvari, Tyanna Supreme, 1, each. |
| Goalkeeper saves |
| Princeton -- Marissa Webb - 7. |
| San Jose State -- Tayler Peters -- 10. |
| Ejections |
| Princeton -- 9. |
| San Jose State -- 12. |