SAN JOSE, Calif. – The No. 5 Arizona State University water polo team continued its impressive run through the second half of the season, picking up two wins in a road doubleheader in the Bay Area. The Devils knocked off 11th-ranked MPSF foe San Jose State, 13-8, before easily taking care of business in a 15-3 victory over CSU Monterey Bay on Saturday.
Maud Koopman scored three goals and added five assists in the opener against the Spartans before ASU let its reserves do the talking against the Otters as Taylor Bertrand led the way with four goals.
With the victories, ASU moved to 17-5 on the season and 3-2 in MPSF play. Head coach Todd Clapper is now 296-196 in his head coaching career and moved to four games out of his milestone 300th career victory.
The Devils return to action on the road in their MPSF finale against the second-ranked UCLA Bruins on Friday, April 15 at 3:30 p.m. PT in Los Angeles on the Pac-12 Networks.
Full recaps from Saturday's victories can be found below.
ASU 13, San Jose State 8
Maud Koopman continued to elevate her play to the next level, scoring a hat trick and a career-best five assists to lead the No. 5 Arizona State University water polo team to a 13-8 victory over No. 11 San Jose State on the road on Saturday.
Trailing 2-1 after the first quarter, The Sun Devils (16-5, 3-2 MPSF) ripped off five straight goals en route to a six-goal second quarter to build up an eventual 7-5 lead heading into halftime. ASU outscored the Spartans (15-13, 0-5 MPSF), 4-2, in the third period to extend the lead to four goals and give it some breathing room en route to the 13-8 final.
Koopman, the defending MPSF Newcomer of the Week and winner of the honor in three of the last four weeks, crushed her previous career best with her five assists in the contest – good for a tie for second in ASU history for a single game. She netted her second hat trick of the season and first since the opening weekend, finishing the afternoon with eight points and a tie for fourth all-time at ASU for single-game points.
The Dutch attacker leads the team in just about every major statistical category and only added to that total on Saturday as she now has a team-leading 29 goals, 23 assists and 52 points.
Daisy Carter added a hat trick of her own on Saturday – her fourth of the season – and added a team-leading three assists and two field blocks while Lena Mihailovic, Ao Gao and Abbey Kerth eached added two goals each. Katie Sverchek rounded out the Sun Devil scoring while holding MPSF goal leader Rae Lekness scoreless on defense whenever she was matched up against her.
Mia Rycraw continued to impress, stopping 16 shots and adding a steal from the cage.
A physical game, the two teams combined for 21 exclusions and much of the offensive damage for both squads was done with a man advantage. ASU capitalized on 6-of-10 power play opportunities and added a Koopman penalty shot goal while SJSU for 5-for-9 on 6-on-5 chances.
ASU 15, CSU Monterey Bay 3
The Sun Devils were able to get their starters some much-needed rest and the team's reserves took advantage of their chance to shine in a dominating 15-3 victory over CSU Monterey Bay in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader.
Taylor Bertrand set a career high with four goals while goalkeeper Taylor Barrett matched her career high with nine saves to just three goals allowed in a complete-game effort.
Freshman Rosie Huck added three goals while the trio of Julia Reyes, Claudia Abad and Stephanie Contreras all added a pair of goals. Reyes, a true freshman, matched her career high with the effort. Kayla Casas and Lena Mihailovic also added goals for the Devils.
Bertrand placed her stamp on the game early, scoring the first three goals of the game, the hat trick goal igniting a 7-0 run for the Devils as ASU scored six goals in the second quarter for the second six-goal second quarter of the day.
The Sun Devil defense was stifling, forcing 15 steals in the contest. Abad led the way as she crushed her previous career best with five steals in the effort. Kayla Casas added three steals as well.