Feb. 25, 2007
IRVINE, Calif. - Despite surrendering a four-goal lead in the fourth quarter, the No. 11 Arizona State University water polo team scored a 13-11 overtime victory against No. 12 UC Santa Barbara in the 11th-place game at the Anteater Invitational in Irvine, Calif., Sunday. The win pushed the Sun Devils' record to 3-6 on the season with a 2-2 record on the weekend.
The Sun Devils jumped to an early 4-1 lead after the first quarter of play before adding two more goals for a 6-1 lead at the intermission. ASU was outscored, 4-3, in the third quarter before a 5-1 outburst by the Gauchos forced overtime. In the extra session, ASU outscored UCSB 2-1 in the first overtime period before scoring once more for the final 13-11 victory.
Katy Lawlor led the scoring for the Sun Devils with four in the game while Ashley Bower netted three scores and Katie Hedley added a pair. Kim Buck, Addison Doud, Ali Gronow and Amanda Stepp each scored once as well. Defensively, Caylinn Wallace stopped 15 shots to preserve the victory.
ASU will play host to its first two Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) contests of the season next week as No. 2 Stanford and No. 6 San Jose State visit Tempe. The Sun Devils and Cardinal will meet at 6 p.m. Thursday before the Sun Devils and Spartans meet for the third time this season in a noon on Sunday.