April 5, 2003
TEMPE, Ariz. - The No. 19 Arizona State water polo team ended its Desert Challenge with three losses after absorbing a 7-5 loss to No. 12 Michigan Saturday at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center. The loss, ASU's fourth in a row, dropped the Sun Devils to 17-13 on the year while the Wolverines improved to 15-9.
ASU got on the scoreboard first with Daya Mau (Fr., Honolulu, Hawaii) scoring on a 4-meter penalty shot 46 seconds into the game. UM would score on its own 4-meter chance to tie the score at one before Ashely Orzalli (Jr., Acampo, Calif.) put the Sun Devils ahead with her goal at 2:19. The Wolverines tied it up again with a Jo Antonsen goal at 1:12.
In the second, UM scored two goals to open the frame and staking a 4-2 lead. Lena Soghomonian (So., Belmont, Calif.) launched a shot into the bottom left corner after a solid pass from Gili Kollan (So., Kiriat Bialik, Israel) to cut the deficit to 4-3. UM struck again in the second, this time with 20 seconds remaining in the half to bring the teams to intermission with ASU down 5-3.
Defense dominated in the third quarter, with the Wolverines scoring the only goal of the quarter, this time with 27 seconds remaining. In the fourth, Katie Davis (Jr., Riverside, Calif.) scored with less than six minutes left to cut the score to 6-4, but UM answered back 17 seconds later with its seventh goal of the game. With 40 seconds left, Lauren Jacobson (So., League City, Texas) took a pass from Kim Stevens (Fr., Lodi, Calif.) and fired in a backhand shot for the final score of the game.
Prior to the ASU-UM game, No. 7 Loyola Marymount stayed perfect in Tempe with a 7-4 victory over No. 9 San Jose State. Devon White netted four goals and Teresa Guidi notched three in the Lions' victory. In defeat, Beth Harberts scored two goals of her own while Katie Morgan and Laura Scott added the other Spartans tallies.
The Sun Devils hit the road next weekend to participate in the Long Beach Invitational where they will face No. 3 USC, Pacific and Occidental in pool play before moving into the second round of two guaranteed games.