March 1, 2007
Scoresheet (pdf)
TEMPE, Ariz. - The No. 11 Arizona State University water polo team put up a strong fight, but in the end the No. 1 Stanford Cardinal escaped with a 12-7 victory in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) game played Thursday night at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center in Tempe. The Sun Devils, playing in their first home game of the 2007 season, slipped to 3-7 overall on the year and 0-2 in the league while the Cardinal improved to 12-1 overall and 5-0 in the league.
Although 19 goals were scored between the two sides, the first quarter was not indicative of the game as SU's Katie Hansen scored the only goal of the period to give the visitors a 1-0 lead. In the second quarter, Hansen added another score before Kelly Phelps found the back of the net for the Sun Devils. After another SU goal, Katie Hedley scored on a 6-on-5 advantage to cut the deficit to one goal, but Lauren Silver scored her second in a row to stake SU to a 4-2 lead. Phelps then added her second goal of the contest to bring ASU to within one score, but the Cardinal saw both Silver and Hansen score once more for a 6-3 lead at halftime.
SU pushed the lead to 7-3 early in the third as Jessica Steffens scored, but Ashley Bower tallied for the hosts to keep the score close. Hansen would end up scoring twice more in the stanza, including a goal off a restart with just one second remaining in the quarter for a 9-4 lead. In the final period of play, the Sun Devils opened with a goal from Amanda Stepp before Hansen scored her sixth goal of the game and Kelsey Holshouser added two in a row for a 12-5 SU lead. Kim Buck scored on an outside shot and Lindsay Williams scored with just 17 seconds remaining to bring the final score to 12-7.
Defensively, ASU's Caylinn Wallace stopped 14 shots with seven coming in the first quarter while her counterpart, Meridith McColl, halted eight. Kate Heddleston played the final 3:42 in the cage for the visitors, making two saves.
The Sun Devils return to action at home Sunday when the No. 6 Spartans of San Jose State invade Tempe for a noon MPSF contest.
#1 Stanford defeats #11 Arizona State, 12-7
ASU Goals: Phelps (2), Bower, Buck, Hedley, Stepp, Williams
SU Goals: Hansen (6), Silver (2), Holshouser (2), Steffens
ASU Saves: Wallace (14)
SU Saves: McColl (8), Heddleston (2)