Photo by Dylan Newman
The No. 13 San José State water polo team beat local rival No. 16 Santa Clara University 12-7 in its home opener at the Spartan Recreation and Aquatic Center on Thursday.
The Spartans (4-6, 1-1 MWC) victory against the Broncos (9-8, 0-2 MWC) marked their seventh consecutive win against Santa Clara.
Senior center Márk Kis gave the Spartans an early lead by scoring in the seventh minute of the match. Kis would also go on to score again to add to their lead of 4-0.
Senior utility player Gal Haimovich was one of four Spartans to score twice in the match, alongside Kis, junior center Bence Szabo and sophomore driver Nikki Matheisen.
Haimovich, who is originally from Ein Vered, Israel, said the home win was a personal bright spot amidst conflict overseas between Israel and Palestine.
“With what’s going on in my country, I’m blessed to be here,” Haimovich said. “We got a great win, it’s amazing for my team.”
The Broncos were able to even the score to 5-5 before freshman goalkeeper Brendon Gyapjas lobbed a perfectly placed cross-pool pass to junior utility player László Szieben, who was able to immediately slam it into the back of Santa Clara’s net to break the tie before the half and giving the Spartans a 6-5 lead.
Gyapjas had a breakout match and would hype the team up by pounding the water in celebration after each of his 12 saves, the third most in a single match for him this season.
By halftime, SJSU pushed ahead to a 7-5 lead, a lead it would hold onto for the rest
of the match.
Sophomore driver Mateja Bosić was able to win the sprint for each quarter, giving the Spartans
the upper edge.
Nikolic said it felt amazing to win at home.
“It’s our first win [at home],” Nikolic said. “I think this is a great way to start the season.”
Szabo, who leads the team in scoring this season with 17 goals, led the match in exclusions by drawing a total of 3 off of Santa Clara.
Matheisen capped off the Spartans’ win with his second goal of the day, ending the match with a final score of 12-7.
SJSU head coach Gabor Sarusi said playing at home again has been a long time coming.
“We’ve been waiting for this home game for a long time now and it’s nice to play in front of our amazing crowds,” Sarusi said. “A lot of people came out, hopefully we get more of these guys coming out for our
next home games.”
The Spartans would go on to lose in their next match to the Air Force Academy by a score of 16-12 Colorado on Saturday.