Water Polo places seventh at UCI Invitational

The No. 9 Arizona State University water polo team split a pair of games at the UC Irvine Invitational for the second day in a row, falling to No. 4 California, 15-7, before knocking off No. 7 San Diego State, 10-9, to finish seventh overall in the 16-team tournament held on the UCI campus in Irvine, Calif. With the split, the Sun Devils currently stand 4-6 overall (0-1 MPSF).

In the first game of the day, the Sun Devils faced the Golden Bears for the third time already this season, falling 15-7 on Sunday. The Sun Devils trailed 3-1 through the first quarter and 5-2 at the half before Cal extended its lead to 9-5 through three. The fourth quarter, however, is where the Golden Bears pulled away, outscoring ASU, 6-2.

Offensively, Shannon Haas set the pace once again as she netted three goals while Candice Phillippe, Lynlee Smith, Kelsey White and Amanda Young each found the back of the net once. Smith added a trio of assists while Morgan Leech was credited with a pair of helpers. In the cage, Ianeta Hutchinson recorded six saves.

In the seventh-place game, the Sun Devils upset the higher ranked Aztecs, making a late charge in the final stanza to take the victory, 10-9. The score was tied at 2-2 through the first quarter before ASU took a 5-4 lead at the half. But, SDSU turned in four goals to ASU’s one in the third to capture an 8-6 lead. In the final quarter, the Aztecs added one goal and the Sun Devils tallied three to tie the game at 9-9 before scoring the winning goal with 14 seconds remaining in the contest.

Annabelle Carter and Mariam Salloum each scored three times while Sarah Harris added two. Smith and Nikki Unbehaun also added one goal each. Hutchinson, who made seven saves in the cage, also led the team with three assists in the game while Unbehaun added a pair. Phillippe, Salloum, Smith and White also added an assist each.

ASU will be back in action this weekend as they play host to their first two home games of the season. First up, the Sun Devils will take on No. 3 UCLA at noon MT before facing Cal Baptist at 6 p.m. MT.

2011 UC Irvine Invitational
Irvine, Calif. - Day Two (February 27, 2011)
#4 California def. #9 Arizona State, 15-7
ASU - 1 - 1 - 3 - 2 = 7
CAL - 3 - 2 - 4 - 6 = 15

Goal
ASU: Haas 3, Phillippe, Smith, White, Young
CAL: Vosters 4, Young 3, Mase 2, Price 2, Csikos, McLaren, Mendoza, Ochsner

Saves
ASU: Hutchinson 6
CAL: Peckham 11, Dorst 2

#9 Arizona State def. #7 San Diego State, 10-9
ASU - 2 - 3 - 1 - 4 = 10
SDS - 2 - 2 - 4 - 1 = 9

Goal
ASU: Carter 3, Salloum 3, Harris 2, Smith, Unbehaun
SDS: L. Ford 3, Pezzolla 2, Poland 2, A. Ford, Miller

Saves
ASU: Hutchinson 7
SDS: Campoli 14