IRVINE, Calif. – The No. 6 Sun Devil Water Polo team defeated tournament host No. 7 UC Irvine, 9-6, Saturday evening at UC Irvine Aquatic Center in their second game of the second day at the 2018 Barbara Kalbus Invitational.
With the victory, the Arizona State (11-3) advances to the Invitational fifth place game, where they will take on No. 5 Hawaii in a rematch from earlier in the season at the ASU Cross Conference Challenge. The victory gives the Sun Devils 11 wins, all of which have come against CWPA Top-25 competition. The Sun Devils earned the victory in their first true road match of the season and now hold four wins over CWPA Top-10 opponents.
It was a star powered attack for the Sun Devils, as they played unselfishly sharing the ball beautifully. Four different players finished with a multi-goal game; Bente Rogge, Lena Mihailovic, Alkistis Benekou, and Maud Koopman. Senior goaltender Mia Rycraw continued her outstanding play, recording double-digits saves for the third consecutive outing and for the sixth time on the season. Coming into the weekend, Rycraw was leading the MPSF in Saves with 88. She has 35 saves in three games during the first two days of competition.
Early in the first period, both offenses struggled to find space to operate and were unable to break down either defense enough to create a meaningful scoring opportunity. After recording a hat trick earlier in the day, Julia Reyes wasn't done there. The junior opened the scoring in the game, registering her fourth goal of the day with 1:26 left in the first to put the Sun Devils on top, 1-0. It took the Anteaters over seven minutes of game time before they would tally their first goal, tying the game briefly at one. It was brief because less than a minute later, Lena Mihailovic rocketed one past the goalie to put ASU back in front, 2-1, after the first period.
Once UC Irvine re-tied the game back up at two, the Sun Devils would respond with three unanswered goals to take a 5-2 lead into the break. First, Alkistis Benekou added to her team leading scoring total with a goal at the 5:12 mark in the second period. Soon after, Bente Rogge would register her second goal of the day after contributing a goal early in the day against USC. To cap off a period dominated by the Sun Devils, Lena Mihailovic tallied a goal with 3:34 left before the break to provide ASU the 5-2 lead. Mihailovic notched her sixth multi-goal outing during the 2018 campaign.
Starting the second half, Bente Rogge opened up the scoring for the Sun Devils. Rogge's second goal of the game extended the lead to three, giving her nine multi-goal games on the campaign. UC Irvine would score their second goal of the period at the 5:06 mark. The remainder of the quarter was controlled by the Sun Devils, particularly Maud Koopman. The junior registered back-to-back goals, giving the Sun Devils their largest lead of the game at 8-4. Koopman now has nine multi-goal matches on the season. A late Anteater goal with 10 seconds remaining in the period made the score 8-5 at the end of three.
The Sun Devil defense and goalkeeper Mia Rycraw would take over in the fourth quarter, finishing the game strong despite playing a closely contested match against No. 3 USC earlier in the day. UC Irvine managed to score just twice over the final 13:06 of the contest, including only one goal in the fourth period. Alkistis Benekou recorded her second goal of the game and ninth multi-goal performance after scoring with 2:38 left in the game to give the Sun Devils a 9-6 lead.
The Sun Devils return to the pool tomorrow to continue the Barbara Kalbus Invitational. Arizona State takes on No. 5 Hawaii in the fifth-place game. The game is scheduled for 11:15 A.M. at the UC Irvine Aquatic Center. The fifth-place contest will be a re-match of a competitive affair that saw ASU fall to Hawaii, 10-9, after making up a six-goal deficit at the ASU Cross Conference Challenge. Visit our website for more updates and follow our social media all season long for content. Live stats for tomorrow morning's match will be available via TheFosh.net.
Goals: Benekou (2), Koopman (2), Mihailovic (2), Rogge (2), Reyes
Assists: Allin, Casas, Koopman
Steals: Reyes (2), Mihailovic, Allin, Koopman, Simko, Benekou
Saves: Rycraw (10)
With the victory, the Arizona State (11-3) advances to the Invitational fifth place game, where they will take on No. 5 Hawaii in a rematch from earlier in the season at the ASU Cross Conference Challenge. The victory gives the Sun Devils 11 wins, all of which have come against CWPA Top-25 competition. The Sun Devils earned the victory in their first true road match of the season and now hold four wins over CWPA Top-10 opponents.
It was a star powered attack for the Sun Devils, as they played unselfishly sharing the ball beautifully. Four different players finished with a multi-goal game; Bente Rogge, Lena Mihailovic, Alkistis Benekou, and Maud Koopman. Senior goaltender Mia Rycraw continued her outstanding play, recording double-digits saves for the third consecutive outing and for the sixth time on the season. Coming into the weekend, Rycraw was leading the MPSF in Saves with 88. She has 35 saves in three games during the first two days of competition.
Early in the first period, both offenses struggled to find space to operate and were unable to break down either defense enough to create a meaningful scoring opportunity. After recording a hat trick earlier in the day, Julia Reyes wasn't done there. The junior opened the scoring in the game, registering her fourth goal of the day with 1:26 left in the first to put the Sun Devils on top, 1-0. It took the Anteaters over seven minutes of game time before they would tally their first goal, tying the game briefly at one. It was brief because less than a minute later, Lena Mihailovic rocketed one past the goalie to put ASU back in front, 2-1, after the first period.
Once UC Irvine re-tied the game back up at two, the Sun Devils would respond with three unanswered goals to take a 5-2 lead into the break. First, Alkistis Benekou added to her team leading scoring total with a goal at the 5:12 mark in the second period. Soon after, Bente Rogge would register her second goal of the day after contributing a goal early in the day against USC. To cap off a period dominated by the Sun Devils, Lena Mihailovic tallied a goal with 3:34 left before the break to provide ASU the 5-2 lead. Mihailovic notched her sixth multi-goal outing during the 2018 campaign.
Starting the second half, Bente Rogge opened up the scoring for the Sun Devils. Rogge's second goal of the game extended the lead to three, giving her nine multi-goal games on the campaign. UC Irvine would score their second goal of the period at the 5:06 mark. The remainder of the quarter was controlled by the Sun Devils, particularly Maud Koopman. The junior registered back-to-back goals, giving the Sun Devils their largest lead of the game at 8-4. Koopman now has nine multi-goal matches on the season. A late Anteater goal with 10 seconds remaining in the period made the score 8-5 at the end of three.
The Sun Devil defense and goalkeeper Mia Rycraw would take over in the fourth quarter, finishing the game strong despite playing a closely contested match against No. 3 USC earlier in the day. UC Irvine managed to score just twice over the final 13:06 of the contest, including only one goal in the fourth period. Alkistis Benekou recorded her second goal of the game and ninth multi-goal performance after scoring with 2:38 left in the game to give the Sun Devils a 9-6 lead.
The Sun Devils return to the pool tomorrow to continue the Barbara Kalbus Invitational. Arizona State takes on No. 5 Hawaii in the fifth-place game. The game is scheduled for 11:15 A.M. at the UC Irvine Aquatic Center. The fifth-place contest will be a re-match of a competitive affair that saw ASU fall to Hawaii, 10-9, after making up a six-goal deficit at the ASU Cross Conference Challenge. Visit our website for more updates and follow our social media all season long for content. Live stats for tomorrow morning's match will be available via TheFosh.net.
Goals: Benekou (2), Koopman (2), Mihailovic (2), Rogge (2), Reyes
Assists: Allin, Casas, Koopman
Steals: Reyes (2), Mihailovic, Allin, Koopman, Simko, Benekou
Saves: Rycraw (10)