March 27, 2003
TEMPE, Ariz. - The No. 20 Arizona State water polo team, after winning its last five in a row including an upset of No. 11 UC Irvine one day ago, could not find a way to crack a tough defense as the No. 11 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos (13-8) handed the Sun Devils (16-10) a 9-1 loss Thursday at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center. Gili Kollan (So., Kiriat Bialik, Israel) upped her scoring streak to 15 games with an assist on Bryn Kuech's (So., Bonsall, Calif.) goal in the third quarter.
The Gauchos came out on the offensive and never let up, scoring a pair of goals in each of the four quarters, with the lone exception coming in the first when they scored three times. Katy Kunkel led the charge with four goals while Megan Ricks assisted on the first five UCSB scores to give the visitors a comfortable 5-0 lead at halftime.
ASU pressed for a shot on goal and turned up the offensive intensity to start the third quarter and the move paid off. With 1:06 evaporated from the game clock, Kollan drew an ejection just two-meters away from the Gaucho net. She quickly restarted play with a flip pass to her left where Kuech immediately fired it past backup goalie Erin Enriquez. The ASU score prevented the first shutout of the team by an opponent in school history.
Following the Sun Devil goal, UCSB added two more of its own in each of the last two stanzas to build the score to its final 9-1 tally.
The Sun Devils have the weekend off and return to action next Friday through Sunday when they play host to No. 7 Loyola Marymount, No. 9 San Jose State and No. 12 Michigan in the ASU Desert Challenge.
1 2 3 4 F #11 UC Santa Barbara 3 2 2 2 9 #20 Arizona State 0 0 1 0 1
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
UCSB: 9 Teresa Gorbett (7 Megan Ricks) at 5:18
UCSB: 16 Jennifer D'Anna (7 Megan Ricks) at 4:55
UCSB: 17 Katy Kunkel (7 Megan Ricks) at 0:01
Second Quarter
UCSB: 17 Katy Kunkel (7 Megan Ricks) at 4:35
UCSB: 17 Katy Kunkel (7 Megan Ricks) with man advantage at 2:20
Third Quarter
ASU: 7 Bryn Kuech (10 Gili Kollan) with man advantage at 5:54
UCSB: 16 Jennifer D'Anna (18 Erika Clark) at 4:41
UCSB: 17 Katy Kunkel at 3:10 1 7
Fourth Quarter
UCSB: 3 Erin Lezak at 3:47
UCSB: 5 Susie Lewis (19 Nicola Bishop) at 0:34