March 27, 2004
TEMPE, Ariz. - In a back and forth battle among Top 20 teams, the No. 18 Arizona State water polo team fell in its bid to upset visiting No. 4 San Diego State as the Sun Devils dropped a closely-contested, 6-5, game Saturday at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center in the second of four games in the ASU Invitational. The loss dropped ASU to 7-12 on the year and 1-6 in MPSF play while SDSU improved to 18-3 overall and 7-1 in conference.
The game opened with the Sun Devils quickly falling behind as the Aztecs scored on a man-advantage situation just 14 seconds into the game. Holly Hartzell netted the first goal before coming back down the pool nearly two minutes later to put the Aztecs on top, 2-0. ASU would answer two minutes later with Katie Davis (Sr., Riverside, Calif.) tallying a goal as she cut through the center of the defense to push the ball into the net. After a save on the ensuing play by ASU goalie Jennifer Sanderson (Jr., Walnut Creek, Calif.), a streaking Davis collected a full-pool pass from Sanderson and pressed in on goal before being fouled and awarded a 4-meter penalty shot. Katie Hedley (Fr., Lake Forest, Calif.) took the penalty shot and brought the score to a two-all tie.
In the second stanza, Hartzell answered back for the visitors as she took a pass in the 2-meter position and scored on a backhand shot. Two minutes later, Hartzell added her fourth score of the half on a quick shot from the left side on a breakaway. Trailing by two again, the Sun Devils regrouped and earned a 6-on-5 advantage situation that saw ASU pass the ball around the zone with ease before Raelyn Ritchie (Fr., Newport Beach, Calif.) collected a pass at the 2-meter position and scored to the top left corner of the goal. One minute later and again on the advantage, Hedley received a cross-pool pass and immediately fired the ball into the opposite corner to tie the game at four. With momentum on their side, the Sun Devils added their fifth goal of the half with Hedley finding the top left corner for a 5-4 ASU lead at the intermission.
Following the break, both teams battled for more goals and SDSU got just that with 2:41 remaining in the third quarter as Elana Cervantes found the net to tie the game at five. Following several good scoring chances for each team and numerous stops by the Sun Devil defense and goalie play of Sanderson, the third quarter came to a close. In the final stanza, Kristin Moore scored with 5:29 showing as she punched a cross-pool pass into the net for the game-winning goal. ASU did have several good scoring opportunities in the final minute, including a shot by Gili Kollan (Jr., Kiriat Bialik, Israel) that barely caught the left post and kicked wide with 40 seconds remaining in the game.
Defensively, the Sun Devils managed to clamp down an Aztec attack that had been averaging 10.5 goals in its last five contests and broke its streak of three games in a row in double-digit goals scored. The final also was only the fifth time SDSU had finished a contest in which the outcome was decided by one goal.
In the first game of the day, the No. 9 California Golden Bears (9-9) scored early and often to build a 7-3 halftime lead before holding on to defeat No. 19 Cal Baptist (18-10), 10-7. Cal's Jodie Needles scored three goals in the first quarter and finished with four on the day to pace her team to victory while both Holly Curran and Cheryl Ogden each scored three goals for the Lancers in the loss.
The ASU Invitational comes to a close later today with Cal and SDSU meeting in a MPSF game at 3 p.m. before ASU and CBU finish the day's action with a 6 p.m. contest.