Feb. 6, 2005
TEMPE, Ariz. - The No. 16 Arizona State University water polo team continued play at the 2005 UC San Diego Arena Invitational Sunday morning, but were unable to capture their second victory of the season as No. 15 Hartwick handed the Sun Devils a 5-4 defeat in the championship round of the event being held at Canyonview Pool in La Jolla, Calif. The Sun Devils (1-2, 0-0 MPSF) saw three of their players tally goals, but could not overcome a three goal deficit as the Hawks (2-1) held on for the victory.
HC jumped to an early 1-0 lead on the strength of a goal at 5:33, but that was quickly countered by the Sun Devils as Raelyn Ritchie (So., Newport Beach, Calif.) tallied a goal at 4:50 to tie the game at one. The Hawks responded with a goal at 3:13, but, once again, the Sun Devils responded as Ashley Bower (So., Bondi Beach, Australia) scored with 0:29 showing on the first quarter clock. The Hawks reclaimed the lead in the second quarter with a pair of goals to take a 4-2 lead into the intermission.
In the third quarter, the Sun Devils cut into the Hawks' lead as Kimberlee Stevens (So., Lodi, Calif.) found the back of the net to cut the deficit to 4-3. But, with 1:23 remaining in the third stanza, HC scored again to push the lead back to two goals, 5-3. In the final period of play, Ritchie added her second score of the contest to bring ASU to within one goal, but the Sun Devils could not muster another goal, falling 5-4.
Following a week off from competition, the Sun Devils will return to the pool for the UC Santa Barbara Invitational Feb. 26-27 in Santa Barbara, Calif.