Irvine, Calif.—-San Jose State University picked up an 8-3 Golden Coast Conference (GCC) win against #12 UC Irvine to close out its first weekend of conference play.
Finn Pardon and Neil Arnett led San Jose State in goals with two goals each. Other Spartan goals were scored by Ary Kamen, Emerson Trout, Niels Hofmeijer and Ethan Koch
The first quarter of the match ended in a 2-2 tie. Power play goals by Pardon and Koch in the second quarter put the Spartans (4-13, 1-1 GCC) ahead to stay. The scores were part of five unanswered goals stretching from the end of the first quarter when Kamen's power-play goal tied the score at 2-2 into the third quarter when San Jose State led, 6-2.
Arnett's second goal and one by Hofmeijer with 0:40 remaining kept the Spartans comfortably ahead.
Spartan goalkeeper Yahav Fire was credited with 18 saves. His .875 save percentage in the win was his seaosn best. Fire also assisted on the goals by Koch and Hofmeijer.
"The guys played very good defense and Yahav played really well," says head coach Bruce Watson. "It showed the guys how they can play and it was a nice breakthrough game for our confidence for the rest of the season."
The Spartans return to action Saturday October 26 in the Julian Fraser Memorial at the SRAC. The Spartans will first face off against Princeton at 11:40 am and then against Harvard at 3:40 pm.
#19 San Jose State (4-12, 1-1 GCC) 2-2-3-1=8
#12 UC Irvine (6-9, 0-2 GCC) 2-0-1-0=3
Scoring Summary
San Jose State- Finn Pardon(2), Neil Arnett(2), Ary Kamen(1), Emerson Trout(1), Niels Hofmeijer(1), Ethan Koch (1).
UC Irvine- John Polos(2), Jason Evezard(1).
Ejections
San Jose State- 14
UC Irvine- 14
Goalkeeper Saves
San Jose State- Yahav Fire, 18
UC Irvine- Collin Winters, 12