Feb. 11, 2006
PALO ALTO, Calif. - The Arizona State University water polo team, who entered the weekend ranked 16th in the latest national poll, recorded the biggest upset victory in its young existence as the Sun Devils rallied to knock off No. 4 Hawaii, 8-5, in their first game of the 2006 Stanford Invitational Saturday. The victory keeps ASU perfect on the year at 4-0 while the Rainbow Wahine slipped to 1-2.
The Sun Devils battled the entire first half, but trailed at the intermission by two goals at 4-2. For the third game in a row, ASU used a strong performance in the third quarter to comeback, this time outscoring UH, 3-0, in the stanza. The final quarter of play saw the Sun Devils again tally three goals while allowing just one to bring about the final, 8-5.
Rowie Webster (Fr., Melbourne, Australia) recorded her fourth multiple-goal game in a row, this time scoring four times to pace the Sun Devils to the victory. Fellow Australian Ashley Bower (Jr., Bondi Beach, Australia) and senior co-captain Tessa Wyborny (Walnut Creek, Calif.) each added a pair of goals in the game.
ASU took advantage of foul calls as Addison Doud (Fr., Laguna Beach, Calif.) drew a pair of 4-meter penalty shots for the team while Bower also drew one with the Sun Devils scoring on all three chances. Defensively, Caylinn Wallace (So., Laguna Hills, Calif.) recorded a season-high 13 saves in the net to preserve the Sun Devil win.
Historically, the Sun Devils' upset of the Rainbow Wahine marked the first time ASU has defeated an opponent ranked in the Top 5 nationally and gave its just the fourth win all-time against a Top 10 foe. The highest ranked foe the Sun Devils had defeated coming into the game was No. 8 UC Santa Barbara in an 8-7 overtime contest played April 3, 2005, in Tempe. ASU's other Top 10 victories included a 7-1 upset of No. 9 San Jose State on April 10, 2005, in Tempe and No. 10 UCSB, 7-4, on April 3, 2004, in Santa Barbara, Calif.
Arizona State will now face No. 6 California at 7 p.m. Saturday night in the second of three round robin games. Sunday morning at 9:30 a.m., the Sun Devils will meet No. 1 UCLA before taking on an opponent to be named later in the championship placement rounds.
| Game #4 - at Stanford Invite | |||||
| Team |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
Final |
| #4 Hawaii |
3 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
5 |
| #16 ASU |
1 |
1 |
3 |
3 |
8 |
| ASU Goal Scorers | |
| Player |
Goals |
| Rowie Webster |
4 |
| Ashley Bower |
2 |
| Tessa Wyborny |
2 |
| ASU Defense | |
| Player |
Saves |
| Caylinn Wallace |
13 |