TEMPE – The Arizona State University water polo team reached 20 wins for just the third time ever and head coach Todd Clapper reached career win No. 300 as the Sun Devils advanced to the fifth-place game of the NCAA Tournament with a 7-5 win over San Diego State on Saturday in Los Angeles.
Mia Rycraw was an impenetrable force yet again in the cage, stopping 15 shots in the contest – several of which coming from point blank range – as she brought her two-day save total to 28 saves (14.0 per game).
The victory improved ASU to 20-8 on the season, giving the Devils their first 20-win season since 2013 and just their third-such season in program history. Clapper moved to 300-199 all-time as a head coach, now in his 16th year. He now has 195 wins in 11 seasons as head coach of the Devils.
FINAL | ASU 7, SDSU 5. Todd Clapper earns his 300th career victory and the Devils advance to the 5th-place game! pic.twitter.com/xpdI5AjBeU
— ASU Water Polo (@ASUWaterPolo) May 14, 2016
"I’m just really proud of the team. There was a lot of adversity in that game with Katie (Sverchek) going out with an injury and (Ao) Gao getting two fouls early in the game, our two center defenders, so a lot of adversity there," Clapper said after the game. "The team really rallied around that. They really tightened up their defense and really just supported each other and I’m just really proud of the game that they played and everybody finished very strong to secure the win."
A gritty San Diego State team battled throughout, cutting the ASU lead to 6-5 with 6:45 remaining in the game but Mia Rycraw closed out the game with four straight saves and altered the trajectory of a SDSU penalty shot late in the game with her presence to keep ASU on top.
Kayla Casas put the game away with her second goal with 2:32 left in the game. Casas played significant minutes in the contest after senior leader and center defender Katie Sverchek was forced to leave the game in the second quarter after taking a hit to the nose.
Casas quickly responded to her increased role, stealing a ball on one end of the pool and taking it coast to coast to make it a 3-1 lead early in the game. Casas finished with two goals, two steals and a kickout drawn and ultimately proved to be the unsung hero of the contest.'
"We want to end our senior’s four years here on a good note, so I felt like all of the underclassmen stepped up and did what they needed to do," Casas said. "We executed well as a team for our seniors, so I think that was something we wanted to do for our seniors.”
Daisy Carter added two goals in the effort while Sverchek, Ao Gao and Maud Koopman also got on the score card. The Sun Devils were efficient on power plays, finishing 3-for-7 in the winning effort.
The Sun Devils moved to the fifth-place game with the victory and will take on UC San Diego tomorrow at 1:45 p.m. PT. The game will be streamed live on NCAA.com.