April 28, 2007
TEMPE, Ariz. - The No. 8-seed Arizona State University water polo team fought back from a pair of two-goal deficits and received four goals from Addison Doud as the Sun Devils defeated No. 12-seed UC Santa Barbara, 10-9, Saturday morning at the MPSF Water Polo Championship being held at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center in Tempe. The victory improved ASU to 14-13 overall while the Gauchos slipped to 16-21 on the year.
The Sun Devils took an early 1-0 lead in the first as Lindsay Williams scored on the power play, only to see UCSB tie the game 20 seconds later. But, just 17 seconds removed from that goal, Doud netted her first of the day to give ASU a 2-1 lead. With 2:01 remaining in the first, the Gauchos tied the score at two on a Zizi Clark goal.
The Gauchos opened with a pair of goals for a 4-2 lead before Doud and Ali Gronow each scored to send the game to halftime knotted at four. The third opened the same way as UCSB took a two-goal lead before Amanda Stepp cut it to one with her score at 3:54. UCSB moved back ahead by two before Katie Hedley scored on the power play and Doud converted on a 6-on-4 situation to send the game to the final quarter tied at seven.
UCSB again took the lead with a goal from Christine Clark, but ASU answered with three goals in a row as Katy Lawlor, Kelly Phelps and Doud each scored in the final stanza. Doud scored on a 5-meter penalty shot with 17 seconds remaining in the contest while Gillian Morgan scored with six seconds remaining to make it 10-9.
Defensively, Caylinn Wallace stopped 12 shots in the game while the Gauchos' Jenny Gonzales stopped nine.
Arizona State will now face No. 7 California in a 10:20 a.m. contest Sunday morning with the winner taking ninth place in the tournament.