April 17, 2005
TEMPE, Ariz. - In a series dominated by close games, the No. 16 Arizona State water polo team pulled out another close contest against No. 20 Cal Baptist, this time taking an 8-6 victory in overtime in the final game of the Long Beach Invitational Sunday. The Sun Devils (9-16, 3-7 MPSF) and Lancers have met eight times (including Sunday) with the first six games being decided by one goal and the last two, both ASU wins, sporting margins of three and two goals, respectively. The Sun Devils also improved to 2-1 in overtime games against CBU.
The Sun Devils, for the third time in the past two days at the Long Beach Invitational, jumped out to an early lead, this time staking themselves to a 3-1 lead after one quarter of play. ASU would then add one goal each in the second and third quarters while the Lancers could only score one in the third for a 5-2 ASU lead heading into the final stanza. But in the fourth, the Lancers added four goals compared to one for ASU to tie the game at six and send it in to extra frames.
In the overtime periods, neither team could find the back of the net in the first extra period, but both Katy Lawlor (Fr., El Segundo, Calif.) and Katie Hedley (So., Lake Forest, Calif.) tallied in the second session to seal the victory, 8-6. Overall, Raelyn Ritchie (So., Newport Beach, Calif.) joined Lawlor and Hedley with two goals scored while Kimberlee Stevens (Jr., Lodi, Calif.) and Tessa Wyborny (Jr., Walnut Creek, Calif.) each added one goal apiece.
Offensively, Hedley's goals gave her 32 on the season and tie her for the team lead with Ashley Bower (So., Bondi Beach, Australia). In the cage, Caylinn Wallace (Fr., Laguna Hills, Calif.) added 12 saves to her season total to help the Sun Devils to victory.
Next weekend, the Sun Devils will play their three final regular season games as they travel to face No. 17 Cal State Northridge, No. 19 UC San Diego and No. 13 San Diego State. The games with CSUN and SDSU are MPSF contests and will count toward the conference standings.
Game #25 [Neutral #13] Record: 9-16 Overall (3-7 MPSF) at Long Beach Invitational DATE OPPONENT 1 2 3 4 OT OT F ---- -------------------- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 4-17 #16 Arizona State 3 1 1 1 0 2 8 #20 Cal Baptist 1 0 1 4 0 0 6
ASU Saves: Wallace (12) ASU Goals: Hedley (2), Lawlor (2), Ritchie (2), Stevens, Wyborny