Feb. 27, 2004
TEMPE, Ariz. - The game between the No. 16 Arizona State water polo team and visiting No. 10 Hawaii Friday at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center marked another historical first the Sun Devils as they competed in their first conference game as members of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF). Unfortunately for the Sun Devils (6-7, 0-1 MPSF), the game ended with the Rainbow Wahine (5-4, 2-2 MPSF) winning 4-3.
After a scoreless first quarter of action, UH broke the deadlock with a goal by Darry Scott-Hosaka at 4:52 with the Rainbow Wahine on the advantage. ASU went on the six-on-five advantage three times after the goal was scored, but could not muster a tally, sending the game into halftime with UH leading, 1-0.
Following the intermission and with the Sun Devils on the counterattack, Katie Davis (Sr., Riverside, Calif.) received a long pass from goalie Jennifer Sanderson (Jr., Walnut Creek, Calif.), who recorded seven saves, and moved in on goal. Davis faked and eventually shot the ball past UH goalie Amber Lumb to tie the game at one. The goal for Davis extended her season-long goal-scoring streak to 13 games in a row and bringing her season total to 24.
Nearly four minutes after the Davis equalizer, Sun Devil Ashley Bower (Fr., Bondi Beach, Australia) found the back of the net to give ASU its first lead of the game. But UH answered back less than 30 seconds later as Kristy Bagnall scored to even the game at two goals apiece.
In the final stanza, Malia Tarayao reclaimed the lead for the Rainbow Wahine at the 5:07 mark with her goal to put the visitors ahead, 3-2. Both teams fought for another score and UH was able to tally its four score of the game as Bagnall netted her second score of the game with only 1:34 remaining in the contest. With time winding down, Gili Kollan (Jr., Kiriat Bialik, Israel) was able to score on a pass from Katie Hedley (Fr., Lake Forest, Calif.) with 11 seconds remaining. With a small amount of time remaining on the clock, UH held the ball and won the game, 4-3.
Arizona State returns to the road next time out as the Sun Devils head to Northern California for a pair of MPSF games. The weekend opens with No. 12 San Jose State at Noon in San Jose, Calif., March 6 before the Sun Devils head to Palo Alto, Calif., for the Noon battle with the No. 2 Stanford Cardinal. ASU's next home game is March 14 at 6 p.m. when the Sun Devils play host to conference rival Pacific.