The San Jose State’s men’s water polo team dropped their third straight game 17-4 to University of California, Berkeley at the Spartan Recreation and Aquatics Center pool on Sunday.
Cal water polo, who has been No.1 in the State, crushed the Spartans on their home turf.
The Spartans (10-14, 0-4 Golden Coast) shot a lowly .160 from the field, making only 4 of their 25 shots on goal with 3 of their goals coming on power plays.
The first quarter started off rough for SJSU. They allowed the Golden Bears to score six unanswered points and did not have an answer for Cal’s fast-paced attack.
The Spartans did not score until the six minute mark of the second quarter when junior Mark Kis scored on a power play. The Spartans ended their scoring drought though Cal was already up 7 points.
At halftime, SJSU were down 11-2 and the game looked bleak. Cal’s defensive pressure led to Spartan turnovers and gave the Golden Bears opportunities to score.
Cal continued their dominance in the second half as they outscored SJSU 6-2 in the second half. The Golden Bears cruised to the finish line, not allowing the Spartans to score in the fourth quarter.
Even in the loss, head water polo coach Bruce Watson said he was proud of his team’s performance.
“It was a good game, everyone did a great job”, Watson said.
After going undefeated at the Julian Fraser Invitational just two weeks ago, the Spartans have gone cold on the defensive end.
SJSU have given up 14.6 points to opponents during their losing streak and scored just over 7 points in their last three games.
Though the Spartans have a losing record, they have played one of the tougher schedules in the conference thus far.
SJSU has played 20 ranked opponents and has played the No. 1 team in the nation twice, playing Stanford and Cal who held the No. 1 spot at different times this season.
On Friday, SJSU is scheduled to play the final home game of the season against the University of Pacific Tigers at the SRAC pool at 1 p.m. The Spartans will honor all of its seniors in a ceremony before the game.
