Davis, Calif.----- San Jose State University won a pair of one-goal matches, one of them in sudden victory overtime, on the final day of the Aggie RoundUp men's water polo tournament.
The #17-ranked Spartans (3-1) overcame a two-goal deficit in the fourth quarter to post a 12-11 sudden victory win over #15-George Washington (8-3) in their morning match.
San Jose State departed from the Schall Aquatics Complex on the UC Davis campus with a 10-9 win over Fresno Pacific in its final match of the tournament. The Spartans won three of four after defeating Chapman, 14-6, and losing to #18-California Baptist, 8-7, on Saturday, September 15.
Against George Washington, Adam Bado scored the game winner for San Jose State 2:27 in the first sudden victory period. He also scored with 0:20 remaining in the first overtime to tie the score at 10-10.
Justin Pickering, Giocamo Lovatelli and Neil Arnett also scored twice for the Spartans against George Washington.
T.J. Palmer was in the goal for the first half of the game for the Spartans and was credited with six saves. Yahav Fire played the rest of the game in goal and made seven saves.
"Against George Washington, which is a good team, we were down in the fourth quarter, 9-7. The guys fought back and tied it and said 'we're not losing.' We ended up winning in sudden death. We had some resilience. It's a good group. I'm proud of how they battled," said San Jose State head coach Bruce Watson.
Bado and Arnett led the Spartans in scoring with three goals each in the win over Fresno Pacific. Lovatelli scored twice and Antonios Giannatsis and Cade Baldridge found the back of the cage for San Jose State once in the win.
James O'Brien saw his first action of the season in goal for the Spartans and was credited with two saves in 16 minutes. Palmer played the second half and also stopped two Sunbird scoring chances.
"It was a good tournament for us to come together as a team, what we need to work on, find out what we do well and for the guys to begin learning how to play with each other," Watson concluded.
The Spartans' next match is Friday, September 21 versus Santa Clara at West Valley College. The opening sprint starts at 6:00 p.m.