April 28, 2005
TEMPE, Ariz. - The No. 19 Arizona State University water polo team opened play at the 2005 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Championships Thursday and suffered an 8-4 setback to No. 5 Long Beach State in the opening round of the tournament being held at the Spieker Aquatic Center in Berkeley, Calif. The Sun Devils, the No. 12 seed in the event, slipped to 9-20 overall on the season while the 49ers, seeded No. 5, improved to 20-7.
With their fourth loss in a row, the Sun Devils will meet No. 13 seed Pacific, which lost to No. 4 Hawaii, 15-6, at 9 a.m. Friday morning as both teams will battle to keep their respective seasons going. The loser of the game will finish in 13th place and will not have games on Saturday and Sunday while the winner remains alive and is assured of one game each of the next two days.
ASU's game with LBSU opened with the 49ers taking an early 3-1 lead before both teams netted one goal each, sending the game into halftime with LBSU leading, 4-2. Following the intermission, ASU outscored the 49ers, 2-1, to pull to within one goal (5-4) at the end of three before LBSU tallied three goals in the final stanza while holding the Sun Devils scoreless for the 8-4 final score.
Overall, Tessa Wyborny (Jr., Walnut Creek, Calif.) led the charge as she netted a pair of goals while sophomores Ashley Bower (Bondi Beach, Australia) and Katie Hedley (Lake Forest, Calif.) each recorded solo scores. In the cage, freshman goalie Caylinn Wallace (Laguna Hills, Calif.) stopped five of the 49ers' shots on goal in her first conference tournament game.
If the Sun Devils defeat Pacific Friday morning, they will advance to face the loser of the No. 8 seed UC Irvine vs. No. 9 Cal State Northridge game being played Thursday afternoon. Because of the loss Thursday, the Sun Devils can finish no higher than ninth place, which would be one place higher than their finish last year as the No. 11 seed.