LOS ANGELES – Ao Gao and Mia Rycraw put the Sun Devils on their back in the opening round of the 2016 NCAA Water Polo Championships on Friday in Los Angeles, but it was a goal from Michigan with four seconds remaining that would bring an end to ASU’s late rally and upset bid in a 5-4 loss.
Gao scored two of the final three goals of the game for the Devils (19-8), including the equalizer with 1:24 remaining in regulation – tying the game for the first time after ASU was forced to play from behind for nearly the entirety of the game.
The Sun Devils had one shot at the go-ahead goal after a Rycraw steal with under a minute remaining in the game. A contra-foul put the ball back in the Wolverines’ hands for the final possession however.
The game looked prime for overtime as Rycraw broke up a pass to center and moved to swim the ball to safety and let the clock run out. But chaos in front of the net ensued and UM’s Allison Skaggs was able to break away from her defender and poke the ball away from Rycraw and into the back of the net for the game-winner four just four seconds left on the clock.
Rycraw finished the game with 13 saves and kept the Sun Devils within striking distance throughout the contest despite ASU being outshot 30-19. It was the sophomore's fourth consecutive game logging double-digit saves.
In a physical contest, the Sun Devils had several shots from two meters out but the Michigan defenders did just enough to alter shots while Wolverine goalie Julia Campbell made several pivotal saves from point blank range.
ASU was 3-for-8 on the power play – including Gao’s equalizer – while holding Michigan to 0-for-4 with the man advantage.
Katie Sverchek got the Devils on the board early in the second after going into a quick 2-0 hole. From there, it was all Gao as she took over in the fourth quarter with Michigan leading 4-2. Maud Koopman trimmed the deficit to one goal with 3:07 left in the game, drawing an exclusions and finding the back of the net after a quick give-and-go from Gao to make it 4-3.
Lena Mihailovic drew another exclusion about 90 seconds later, allowing Todd Clapper to call a timeout and draw up the play that led to Gao’s game-tying shot.
Unfortunately, that would cap the scoring for the Sun Devils before the hectic final half minute of action.
The Sun Devils will now move to the consolation side of the bracket, beginning with its game against the No. 8 seed tomorrow at 1:45 p.m. PT. The winner of that contest will advance to the fifth-place game on Sunday.