BERKELEY, Calif.----- Gal Haimovich and Bende Pardi scored goals for San Jose State University in the final two minutes leading the Spartans to a 10-9 comeback victory over Pepperdine in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Invitational men's water polo tournament.
The No. 11-Spartans (6-8) completed a sweep on the second day of the MPSF Invitational with a 19-7 victory over No. 18-Pomona Pitzer.
Pardi scored a season-high four times for San Jose State against Pepperdine notching the first goal of the match on the Spartans' first possession on a power play and the match winner on an even strength goal with 1:04 remaining in the fourth quarter. In between, Pepperdine held three two-goal leads.
Haimovich, also recorded a season-scoring high with three in San Jose State's first come-from-behind victory of the season. He finished the September 25 doubleheader with five goals.
Gal Haimovich scored four times for the Spartans in two matches.
San Jose State goalkeeper Yahav Fire was busy protecting the cage stopping 11 out of 20 Pepperdine shots.
"Against Pepperdine, we got our 'mojo' back in the second half and had a great fourth quarter comeback for the win," said San Jose State men's water polo head coach Bruce Watson. "We put together one of best all-around games against Pomona Pitzer. We played well from start to finish and really showed improvement (from the day before)."
In the nightcap, 12 Spartans scored in a 19-7 victory over No.18-ranked Pomona Pitzer. San Jose State never trailed and took the lead for good at 3-2 on a goal by Marko Radanovich. Mark Kis led the scoring assault on Pomona Pitzer with three goals. Radanovich, Haimovich, Niels Hofmeijer, Oliver Grant and Pardi each scored twice.
San Jose State closes out its four matches in the MPSF Invitational Sunday, September 26 taking on No.9 UC San Diego at 1:00 p.m. at the Legends Aquatic Center in the ninth place match.
San Jose State University men's water polo
Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Invitational
Berkeley, Calif.
September 25, 2021
| Scoring Summary |
Score By Quarters |
Total |
| #11-San Jose State |
2-1-3-4 |
10 |
| #12 Pepperdine |
3-2-2-2 |
9 |
| Goal Scoring |
| San Jose State - Bende Pardi, 4; Gal Haimovich, 3; Neil Arnett, Ary Kamen, Itay Nemet, 1, each. |
| Pepperdine - N. Fichman, Nico Tierney, 2, each; . C. Hosea, K. Kaneko, J. Howerton, B. Kosa, S. Ferrari, 1, each. |
| Goalkeeper Saves |
| San Jose State - Yahav Fire, 11. |
| Pepperdine - Jean Claude Marco - 9. |
| Ejections |
| San Jose State, 9. |
| Pepperdine, 10 |
| Scoring Summary |
Score By Quarters |
Total |
| #11-San Jose State (6-8) |
4-5-5-5 |
19 |
| #18-Pomona Pitzer (6-6) |
2-2-1-2 |
7 |
| Goal Scoring |
| San José State - Mark Kis, 3; Marko Radanovich, Gal Haimovich, Niels Hofmeijer, Oliver Grant, Bende Pardi, 2, each. Ary Kamen, Utku Karhan, Adam Bado, Bence Szabo, Tomasso Ramacciotti, Eric Ellison, 1 each. |
| Pomona Pitzer - Keegan Coleman, 2; Kyle Green, Dylan Elliott, Benjamin Sasaki, Adam Gross, Andrew Platschke, 1, each. |
| Goalkeeper Saves |
| San Jose State - Yahav Fire (24:00), 8; Jamie Steingraf (8:00), 3. |
| Pomona Pitzer - Kellen Grant, 8. |
| Ejections |
| San Jose State, 10. |
| Pomona Pitzer, 9. |
