Feb. 9, 2002
TEMPE, Ariz. - Arizona State's women's water polo team lost its inaugural game to Santa Clara in overtime, 8-6, in front of more than 125 fans at Mona Plummer Aquatic Center in Tempe, Saturday morning. Only the front end of a double header, ASU (0-1) gets another shot at Santa Clara (3-2) at 3:00 p.m.
After jumping out to a 2-0 lead over the Broncos, ASU trailed 5-4 with just under a minute to play in regulation. Catherine Taber found fellow sophomore Ashley Orzalli in front of the goal with 50 seconds remaining, but Orzalli's shot was too high, seemingly dashing ASU's chances.
However, the Sun Devils regained possession and got the ball back to Orzalli at 2-meters. With just eight seconds left on the clock, Orzalli fired a backhand into the goal that tied it up at 5-5 and sent the game into overtime.
In the two three-minute overtime periods, Santa Clara outscored ASU 3-1 to spoil the Sun Devils' comeback. Still, ASU head coach Vicki Gorman said she was very pleased with her team's first effort.
"Ashley's shot with eight seconds left is the kind of thing you expect to see in the middle or at the end of the season, not in the first game," Gorman said. "I think we showed a lot of heart out there. We played Santa Clara goal-for-goal and even though we got a little tired there in the fourth quarter, we never gave up. That's really impressive for a first-game effort."
In addition to Orzalli -- who also scored the first goal in ASU history at the 5:06 mark in the first quarter -- the Sun Devils were led by senior Kim Yost, a graduate of Santa Clara who played three varsity seasons with the Broncos before arriving at ASU as a graduate student. Yost finished with a game-high four goals, two of them coming off of long passes by senior goalie Nancy Holmes.
Seven different Santa Clara players accounted for their eight goals. Junior Kelly Mays had two, including the final score with 22-seconds left in the final overtime period on an open net.
Score by quarter: 1/2/3/4/OT1/OT2 -- Final
Santa Clara 2/1/1/1/1/2 -- 8
Arizona State 2/2/0/1/0/1 -- 6
Santa Clara Goals: Kelly Mays 2, Carly Carpenter 1, Katy Shumm 1, Allison Stover 1, Becky Hong 1, Elizabeth Glotzbach 1, Sara Schmitt 1
ASU Goals: Kim Yost 4, Ashley Orzalli 2