April 17, 2004
TEMPE, Ariz. - The No. 15 Arizona State water polo team played its first of four games at the Long Beach Invitational with a 16-2 defeat of UC Santa Cruz Saturday in game one of two on the day. Eight different Sun Devils scored at least one goal with four tallying multiple scores as ASU improved to 10-14 on the season.
ASU jumped to an early lead as five goals were scored in the first quarter of play as the Sun Devils raced to a 5-1 lead after seven minutes of play. While shutting out the Banana Slugs in the second stanza, ASU added four more goals for a 9-1 advantage at the intermission. The Sun Devils added another pair of goals in the third before pumping five more in the final period to bring the final total to 16-2.
Katie Davis (Sr., Riverside, Calif.), one game removed from seeing her season-long (23 games) scoring streak snapped at the hands of No. 1 USC, exploded for four goals to pace the Sun Devil attack while Kimberlee Stevens (So., Lodi, Calif.) added a hat-trick in the win. Freshmen Ashley Bower (Bondi Beach, Australia) and Katie Hedley (Lake Forest, Calif.) each added two goals while classmate Raelyn Ritchie (Fr., Newport Beach, Calif.) added a single score. Jill Szuszkiewicz (Jr., Moreno Valley, Calif.), for the second game in a row, scored once as did Heather Rempfer (So., Lodi, Calif.), Jessica McDaniel (Fr., Modesto, Calif.) and Holly Newman.
Defensively, Elizabeth Houck (So., San Diego, Calif.) got the start in goal and recorded three saves while allowing one first-half goal. Kristie Meyer (So., Reno, Nev.) also saw time between the pipes and allowed one goal.
The Sun Devils close out the first day of action at the Long Beach Invitational with a 2:30 p.m. contest against No. 6 Hawaii. The tournament concludes Sunday with ASU taking on No. 4 Long Beach State and Pacific.