March 19, 2011
TEMPE - The No. 8 Arizona State University water polo team fell behind early to No. 1 Stanford, but fought hard and stayed in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) match throughout before losing 14-3 Saturday afternoon at Mona Plummer Aquatic Center in Tempe. The Sun Devils moved to 8-9 on the season and 0-4 in MPSF play, while the Cardinal remain undefeated at 16-0 on the season and 2-0 in the MPSF.
ASU gave up a trio of goals in the opening two minutes before stiffening up its defense and ended the opening quarter trailing 5-0. Mariam Salloum put the Sun Devils on the scoreboard with a goal just over a minute into the second period and ASU had a strong defensive quarter, highlighted by Ianeta Hutchinson blocking a shot from point-blank range and Kelsey White breaking up a 2-on-1 Stanford fast break, and went into halftime down 7-1.
Salloum added her second goal of the game in the third quarter, but Stanford countered with five scores of their own to take a 12-2 lead. A number of strong shots in the final quarter, including rips by Nikki Unbehaun and Sarah Harris, were thwarted by Stanford goalie Amber Oland. However, Haas netted a goal at the three-minute mark to make the final score 14-3.
Salloum notched two goals to pace the Sun Devils and Haas recorded one.
Hutchinson played the whole match and had four saves on the day, including two in both the second and third quarters.
This is the third time ASU has faced the Cardinal this season, losing 10-1 in the Stanford Invitational and 15-7 at the UC Irvine Invitational. All four of the Sun Devils' MPSF losses have come against the top-four teams in the nation.
The Sun Devils will return to the home waters of the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center Mach 26 as they will play host to No. 9 San Jose State in the final home contest of the year as well as the final home game for four seniors, including Sarah Harris, Candice Phillippe, Lynlee Smith and Nikki Unbehaun. All four women will be recognized before the start of the game.
#1 Stanford def. #8 Arizona State, 14-3
STAN - 5 - 2 - 5 - 2 = 14
ASU - 0 - 1 - 1 - 1 = 3
Goals
STAN:
Dries 5, Lo 3, Seidemann 2, Garton, Krueger, Kennedy, Coughlan
ASU: Salloum 2, Haas
Saves
STAN: Oland 8, Baldoni 2
ASU: Hutchinson 4