March 12, 2005
TEMPE, Ariz. - In need of a win and playing in front of the home crowd for the first time this season, the No. 19 Arizona State University water polo team came to play and delivered a 5-3 upset of No. 13 UC Irvine Saturday at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center in Tempe. Following three losses on the road last weekend, the Sun Devils got back to their winning ways to improve to 5-8 on the year and 1-2 in the MPSF while the Anteaters fell to 6-9 overall and 1-5 against conference foes.
UCI opened the scoring first as Nicole Frish found the back of the net on a 6-on-5 advantage play for a 1-0 lead. But the Sun Devils used steals and key saves from freshman goalie Caylinn Wallace (Fr., Laguna Hills, Calif.) to trigger the offense and netted two scores to close out the first quarter. In the opening stanza, the Sun Devils drew a penalty shot that Katie Hedley (So., Lake Forest, Calif.) snuck under the outstretched arms of goalie Kelly Woodbury to tie the game at one. With 38 seconds remaining in the stanza, ASU struck again as Hedley tallied for the second time on the day. The Sun Devils added to their lead with 1:10 remaining before halftime as Elaine Bentley (Jr., San Diego, Calif.) found the back of the net.
Following the intermission, the Sun Devils picked up right where they left off as Holly Newman (Jr., San Diego, Calif.) needed just 34 seconds to score, pushing the home team's lead to three goals at 4-1. With 4:00 showing on the third quarter clock, Kimberlee Stevens (Jr., Lodi, Calif.) recorded a goal of her own to close out the scoring for ASU. In the final stanza, UCI's Jessica Lewis and Aleah Amr each scored to cut the Sun Devil lead to two goals, but the defense held on for the 5-3 upset.
The score could have been higher for both teams, especially ASU, as numerous shots found the posts and cross bars of the cages or were deflected by field players. Goalies also had several strong saves, including a stop by Wallace on a one-on-zero fast break.
The second game of the day saw No. 3 Long Beach State score early and often as it defeated No. 9 Indiana, 15-6. The 49ers sprinted to a 5-0 lead before taking a 7-1 lead into the intermission. Four more goals in the third made put the score at 11-2 before each team added four goals each in the final period of play. Ten different 49ers recorded goals in the victory with Cassie Azevedo, Alison Braden, Marina Canetti, Drue Wawrzynski and Christina Wensman each posting two scores. Kara Woolley led the Hoosiers with two goals of her own.
One final game will be played Saturday night with IU and UCI meeting at 5:30 p.m. On Sunday, ASU will meet LBSU at noon before closing out the weekend at home with a 6 p.m. game against the Hoosiers.