Feb. 17, 2008
TEMPE, Ariz. - History was not repeated Sunday in Tempe as the No. 8 Arizona State University water polo team fell behind early and could not come back as the visiting No. 3 USC Trojans scored an 11-5 victory over the Sun Devils in their home and conference opener at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center on ASU's campus. The loss dropped the Sun Devils to 8-4 overall and 0-1 in the MPSF while the Trojans improved to 6-2 overall and 2-0 in the MPSF.
The Sun Devils, who upset then-No. 2 USC last weekend at the Stanford Invitational, 8-5, surrendered the first five goals for the game before Kelly Phelps scored with 2:44 remaining in the first half. USC would go on to score four more in a row for a 9-1 lead after three quarters of play before ASU outscored the visitors, 4-2, in the final frame. Kristen Wagner scored with 5:41 remaining before Lauren Hayes netted a pair of goals in a row. Trailing 11-4 with two minutes remaining, the Sun Devils earned a 5-meter penalty shot, which Addison McGrath converted for the final 11-5 score.
The Sun Devils remain at home for one more game as they are set to play host to No. 4 Hawai'i at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday night in Tempe. From there, ASU will travel to Irvine, Calif., next weekend to participate in the UC Irvine Invitational where it will open with a game against No. 9 Loyola Marymount. The winner will face the winner of No. 1 UCLA vs. No. 16 CS Northridge with the losers of both games facing one another.
#3 USC at #8 Arizona State
Mona Plummer Aquatic Center Tempe
USC - 3 - 3 - 3 - 2 = 11
ASU - 0 - 1 - 0 - 4 = 5
ASU Goals - Hayes 2, McGrath, Phelps, Wagner
USC Goals - Stein 3, Bartunkova 2, Nichols 2, J. Anae, Kiss, Lucas, Spataru