April 19, 2003
TEMPE, Ariz. - With a 5-2 victory over Santa Clara Saturday in the Sun Devil Invitational, the No. 19 Arizona State water polo team doubled its win total of a year ago, improving to 20-17 on the year. Five different Sun Devils scored in the victory as ASU, who went 10-17 last year, snapped a three-game losing streak.
Gili Kollan (So., Kiriat Bialik, Israel), who scored three of the four ASU goals in a 5-4 loss the night before, got the Sun Devils on the board first with a backhand shot in front of the goal at 4:08. A little over one minute later, Tessa Wyborny (Fr., Walnut Creek, Calif.) tallied as the Sun Devils had a man advantage on a Bronco exclusion. Neither team scored in the second quarter to give ASU the 2-0 lead at the half.
Halfway through the third quarter, Lena Soghomonian (So., Belmont, Calif.) was in the right place at the right time as she collected a loose ball off a rebounded shot and pushed it across the line to put the home team ahead 3-0. The Broncos broke onto the scoreboard for the first time just 15 seconds later as a soft shot fluttered over the hands of goalie Lizzie Houck (Fr., San Diego, Calif.) to bring the score to 3-1.
In the fourth quarter, Bryn Kuech (So., Bonsall, Calif.) and Daya Mau (Fr., Honolulu, Hawaii) added scores for the Sun Devils as they built a 5-1 lead. With one minute remaining the game, Katy Shumm scored her second goal of the contest to bring the final to 5-2.
In the first game of the day, Cal Baptist scored first to take a 1-0 lead into the second period before No. 20 Cal State Northridge answered with four goals in a row, including three by Chari Christopher to break the game open and eventually win, 5-4.
Action concludes tonight with CBU and SCU facing one another at 3 p.m. while ASU plays it final game of the year at 4:30 p.m. against CSUN in a battle of nationally ranked foes.
Scoring Summary
SCU ----- 0 - 0 - 1 - 1 -- 2
ASU ------ 2 -0 - 1 - 2 -- 5
SCU goals: Katy Shumm (2)
ASU goals: Gili Kollan, Bryn Kuech, Daya Mau, Lena Soghomonian, Tessa Wyborny