PALO ALTO, Calif. - The 2007 season got underway Saturday for the No. 7 Arizona State University water polo with the Sun Devils dropping both of their opening games of the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif. The Sun Devils (0-2, 0-0 MPSF) opened the day with a 13-4 loss to No. 1 USC before falling to No. 10 San Jose State, 11-10.
In the opening game of the season, the Sun Devils fell behind, 5-1, through the first quarter of play before the Trojans took an 8-3 lead at the half. From there, the Sun Devils could find the back only once more in the final two quarters of play while the Trojans added five more scores for the final, 13-4, margin.
Senior Ashley Bower opened the scoring for the Sun Devils as she tallied the first two goals of the game, once on the counter-attack and the second off an assist from Katie Hedley while on the advantage. Freshman Kelly Phelps scored her first goal of the year and her collegiate career late in the second stanza, connecting on a 5m penalty shot that Addison Doud Drew. The scoring concluded for the Sun Devils when Amanda Stepp, another rookie player, tallied on a strong shot from the perimeter mid-way through the third quarter.
Goalie Caylinn Wallace picked up eight saves in the contest while recording five steals to pace the defense. Joining her in the steals column were Doud, Bonnie Chapman and Katy Lawlor, both who recorded two steals each. Hedley, Lindsay Williams, Stepp and Bower each added one steal each.
In the second contest of the day, the Sun Devils took on an improved Spartan squad that jumped out to an early 4-0 lead before ASU responded with four goals in the second compared to three by SJSU. Lawlor was the first to find the back of the net to end the shutout for the Sun Devils as she connected on a shot from center before Doud did the same.
The Australian connection of Bower and Ali Gronow manufactured the third goal as Bower drew a penalty shot that Gronow converted. Bower followed that with her own goal scored as Doud drew the ejection, allowing the senior the opportunity to score on the advantage. Following the intermission, Doud went back to drawing ejections and picked up a goal scored on the first advantage before Stepp scored on the next advantage as Traci Aparicio assisted.
Although the Sun Devils outscored the Spartans, 3-2, in the final quarter, it was not enough to stave off an 11-10 loss. In the final period of play, the Sun Devils got goals from Doud at the center position to open the scoring before Doud drew another penalty shot that Phelps converted. The final goal came from Stepp, who scored on the advantage after Williams drew. In all, Williams drew two ejections in the fourth quarter while Doud created several opportunities by drawing five total ejections in the game.
Defensively, Wallace posted another eight saves with two steals while Stepp and Chapman each added a pair of steals.
ASU plays No. 3 Stanford at 8 a.m. PT Sunday morning before facing one of four possible opponents in the placement game of the Stanford Invitational.