April 4, 2003
TEMPE, Ariz. - The first home night game in Arizona State water polo history did not go as well as the team would have liked as the visiting No. 7 Lions of Loyola Marymount handed the Sun Devils their second loss in a row with a 9-1 decision at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center Friday. ASU (17-11), who also fell to No. 11 UC Santa Barbara last week at home by the same score, allowed the Lions (16-7) to jump to an 8-0 lead before scoring its only goal of the contest.
With 3:10 remaining in the game, Holly Newman (Fr., San Diego, Calif.) took a pass from Robin Kimbrell (Jr., Huntington Beach, Calif.) on the left side of LMU goal and unleashed a shot that was redirected by a defender in front of her. The ball carried to the right of the outstretched goalies arms and found the back of the net. The goal kept in tact ASU's scoring streak of 55 games in a row, meaning the team has not been shut out in its near two-year history.
The Lions, after a tough defensive battle in the opening minutes of the quarter, finally broke the scoring column when Jaime Kroeze scored on a breakaway. A little over 30 seconds later, Katie Hicks was the recipient of a long outlet pass from the goalie as she broke in untouched and made it 2-0 heading into the second.
In the second, Rebecca Peterson scored 23 seconds into the quarter with Devon White and Kroeze tallying at the end of the stanza for a 5-0 intermission lead. In the third, Hicks and Julia Wald scored about one minute apart to seal the game, taking a 7-0 lead into the final period of play. In the fourth, Jessica Conner scored at 3:43 with the Newman answering for the Sun Devils 33 seconds later. The scoring was capped at 2:48 when Christina Radvanyi added a goal on a four-meter penalty shot.
With no points in the contest, Gili Kollan's (So., Kiriat Bialik, Israel) 15-game point streak fell by the wayside.
The Sun Devils return to the pool Saturday at 11:30 and 5 p.m. with games against No. 9 San Jose State and No. 12 Michigan, respectively.