Water polo downs Fresno Pacific and UC San Diego

Mariam Salloum and Annabelle Carter scored six times on the day and Lynlee Smith finished with 13 points, including five goals scored, to lead the No. 9 Arizona State University water polo team to a pair of victories on Sunday at Canyonview Pool in La Jolla, Calif. The Sun Devils, who evened their record to 11-11 on the season after winning their second and third in a row, downed Fresno Pacific, 21-5, to open the day before knocking off host No. 20 UC San Diego, 11-8, to close out the day.

In the opener, ASU jumped all over the Sunbirds from the opening whistle as the Sun Devils scored seven goals in the first eight minutes of play to hold a 7-1 lead before extending that lead to 13-2 at the half. In the third, ASU outscored FPU, 6-2, to extend the advantage to 19-4 before a 2-1 scoring advantage in the fourth gave ASU the final, 21-5. Overall, 11 different Sun Devils scored in the game while 18 assists were recorded on the 21 goals.

Salloum remained on fire after her four-goal, four-assist performance one game earlier by netting five goals and one assist against FPU to lead all scorers and give ASU five scorers with at least two goals or more. Three individuals had hat tricks, including Carter, Amanda Young and newcomer Tristin Baxter, who was playing just her second collegiate game. Carter, who tied Salloum for the team lead in goals on the day, set herself up to be the lone Sun Devil to score more than one goal in both games on the day.

Historically, Salloum’s five goals in the game is a career high, surpassing the four goals in a game she scored on day earlier against Brown and that she had done four other times previously. Also upping her career high in goals was Young, who recorded the first multiple-goal game of her career after scoring one goal in four different games. As a team, the Sun Devils’ 21 goals are the second-most scored in a single game in program history, sitting just behind a 25-6 outburst ASU posted against Cal Luthern at home (3/29/09). Today’s goal total stands as a school record for scoring in a neutral site contest, surpassing the 20 goals ASU scored on three other occasions.

In the second game, the Sun Devils jumped out to a 3-0 lead and didn’t look back as they downed the No. 20 Tritons, 11-8. Carter notched a goal 30 seconds into the game before Harris and Salloum each scored before UCSD netted one goal with 30 seconds remaining to make it 3-1 at the end of the first. In the second, the Tritons closed the gap to 3-2 before Harris and Smith each scored to make it 5-2 before UCSD again scored on its final possession to make it 5-3 at the half.

The Tritons again made it a one-goal game at the start of the third quarter before ASU again scored twice, this time at the hands of Smith and Harris, before UCSD scored to make it 7-5. From there, the Sun Devils scored twice more and the Tritons once to give the visitors a 10-6 lead. Smith scored with two seconds remaining in the quarter to five ASU its fifth score of the game and maintain a four-goal lead. In the final quarter, the Tritons scored twice and Smith added her fourth of the game to close out the scoring and giving the Sun Devils their third win in a row and second of the day.

Smith, who added five assists in the game with the Tritons, equaled her career-high for points in a contest with nine. Those nine points marks the second time this season she recorded the career-high total, the first coming on March 5 against Cal Baptist.

Defensively on the day, a pair of goalies saw action with Ianeta Hutchinson recording nine total saves and Maddison Moore notching four. Against FPU, Hutchinson started the game and stopped one shot before making way to Moore in the middle of the second quarter. From there, Moore halted four shots and both goalies recorded assists on pool-length passes to the offensive zone. In the nightcap, Hutchinson played the entire game, stopping eight shots.

The Sun Devils will be off from competition next week before closing out the regular season on the road with a 5 p.m. contest at No. 5 Hawaii on April 16. From there, the Sun Devils will compete in the MPSF Championships at San Jose State, April 30-May 2.

#9 Arizona State def. Fresno Pacific, 21-5
ASU: 7 - 6 - 6 - 2 = 21
FPU: 1 - 1 - 2 - 1 = 5

Goals
ASU: Salloum 5, Baxter 3, Carter 3, Young 3, Leech 2, Haas, Hacker, Silverberg, Smith, White
FPU: unkown

Saves
ASU: Hutchinson 1, Moore 4
FPU: unkown

#9 Arizona State def. #20 UC San Diego, 11-8
AZST: 3 - 2 - 5 - 1 = 11
UCSD: 1 - 2 - 3 - 2 = 8

Goals
AZST: Smith 4, Carter 3, Harris 3, Salloum
UCSD: Bartow 2, Lizotte 2, Bates, Biehle, Crowell, Orozco

Saves
AZST: Hutchinson 8
UCSD: Taylor 5, Ostosh 3