Last Friday, the Men's Water Polo Club headed to Stanford to play a scrimmage against their familiar division opponents. Stanford were wonderful hosts, and although they invited us for a "causal" scrimmage, the setting definitely didn't feel that way. The Spartans arrived to the revered Avery Aquatic Center, where some of the greatest to ever play the game have called home, and immediately felt the atmosphere. The stadium lights were beaming down, the scoreboard was set up, pump-up music was playing over the sound system, and the bleachers had some fans in attendance watching from high above.
When the game started, Stanford came out strong and meant business. The club at Stanford rarely holds home games, and the players were looking to put on a show for their crowd. Stanford started with an onslaught of counter attacks, outpacing the off-season Spartans and pulling ahead early. The Spartans netted a goal at the end of the 1st to get on the board, but the score after 1 was 4-1 to the Cardinal. At the break, the Spartans caught their breath a bit and made some adjustments defensively. Isaac Santana netted two beautiful goals to keep the offense flowing, and the Spartans clawed their way back into the game, trailing 6-7 at the half.
In the 3rd, the Spartans kept their momentum going, now confident that it was their game to win. Joel Vargas had a lefty goal on a 6-on-5, and Jonney Ramos scored from the back-line on a counter attack, giving SJSU the lead at 9-8 heading into the 4th. Right from the whistle, Sam Lisbonne of Stanford looked to take over. The 1st Team All-League Senior drew a 5-meter penalty shot and knotted up the game at 9 less than a minute into the action. The SJSU offense was not to be outdone. Isaac Santana had another bar in goal, Keenan Bruni skipped one under the goalie's arm for a counter goal, and Jonney Ramos had a nice high-corner bar-down from long range to put the Spartans up big. From there, they never looked back. Multiple defenders forced Stanford's Lisbonne to take some tough shots, which goalie Thomas Rieber was more than up to the task for. The final score was a 14-11 win for the Spartans. Santana led the Spartans with 4 goals, with Vargas and Ramos right behind with 3 apiece.
Thank you again to the Stanford Water Polo Club for an extremely well-hosted night. The Spartans conclude off-season play at the end of the month with a trip to San Diego to compete in SDSU's Aztec Invitational for the 3rd year in a row.
Â
