TEMPE – The Arizona State University water polo team continued its five-game exhibition series against the Shanghai Sports Institute on Saturday afternoon, splitting two games at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center. ASU leads the series 2-1 through three games.
Redshirt freshman Mia Rycraw stopped 21 shots over the two games, including three penalty shots while Daisy Carter paced the scoring with four goals.
The two teams will wrap up the series with a doubleheader beginning tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. MT followed by the series finale at Noon.
Full recaps of Saturday’s action can be found below.
Game 1 – ASU 9, Shanghai 6
Mia Rycraw stopped allowed just one goal while stopping nine shots in three quarters of action as the Arizona State University Water Polo team jumped to an 8-1 lead and cruised to a 9-6 victory of the Shanghai Sports Institute in the second match of a five-game series against the Chinese Club on Sunday morning.
Rycraw stopped her second penalty shot in as many games and allowed just one goal on a defensive breakdown early in the second half as the Sun Devil starters put up a total team effort in three quarters of action.
Freshman PJ Allin scored two goals and added two assists with a steal in her first action of the weekend as she helped ASU jump out to a 3-0 lead early in the second quarter, scoring two of the team’s first three goals.
After going just 1-8 on the power play yesterday, the Devils wasted no time with the man advantage in Saturday’s opener as they scored on two of their first three opportunities, including an Abbey Kerth score with just under two minutes remaining in the first half that gave ASU a commanding 5-0 lead going into the break.
Daisy Carter added two goals for the Sun Devils while Kerth tabbed ASU’s final goal of the game on her second on the morning. Freshman Rosie Huck and Sophomores Kayla Casas and Taylor Bertrand each added goals as well.
The Sun Devils were efficient with their shot selection, scoring nine goals on 16 shots (56.3 percent) and making smart passes to open up scoring lanes.
The ASU defense was stifling ahead of Rycraw, keeping the Shanghai squad out of rhythm and forcing several possessions deep into the shot clock. ASU help Shanghai to just 2-of-10 in 6-on-5 situations with those two goals coming early in the fourth quarter with the ASU reserves in the game.
Ao Gao added two assists and a steal while playing her typical stalwart role on the back line of the defense.
Game 2 – Shanghai 10, ASU 9
The Sun Devils gave up five penalty shot goals and couldn’t overcome a late three-goal deficit despite a late scoring flurry to climb within a goal.
Mia Rycraw stopped 12 shots in the contest, and stopped her third penalty shot in as many games. However, Shanghai converted on five of the six chances, taking advantage of some positioning errors by the Sun Devils.
Katie Sverchek tied the game at 7-7 with her power play goal with 30 seconds left in the third quarter but Shanghai netted three straight goals to start the four quarter – two coming via penalty shot to stake a 10-7 advantage with 1:32 remaining.
Ao Gao and Kayla Casas each scored in the final minute but the Devils simply ran out of time to complete the comeback.
The penalty shots aside, the Sun Devils again were solid when Shanghai had a man advantage and held the Chinese club to 0-for-5 with the extra player. On the flipside, ASU went just 2-for-10 with a man advantage of their own.
Freshman Maud Koopman again had a solid effort, netting two goals and adding two assists. Shanghai’s Wang Huan led all scorers with four goals.