Water polo record start, wins over Hartwick

The No. 7 Arizona State University water polo team continued its record-setting start to the 2009 season with a 16-6 win over No. 12 Hartwick on Sunday at the UC Irvine Mini-Tournament. The Sun Devils improve to 6-0 on the year with the victory, the most consecutive wins to start a season in program history.

Senior Addison McGrath and sophomores Lynlee Smith and Nikki Unbehaun all scored four goals in the win. McGrath has scored multiple goals in all six games this season, and Smith has scored in each of her first six career collegiate games. Unbehaun also matched her career high for goals in a game, which she first achieved in ASU's victory over Bucknell last week.

Sophomore Lauren Hayes scored two goals while juniors Bonnie Miles and Kelly Phelps added a goal each in the game. Freshman goalie Dana Harvey collected nine saves in the cage.

The Sun Devils wasted little time in jumping on top of the Hawks. They led 3-1 after the first quarter and then outscored Hartwick 4-0 in the second to take a six-goal lead at the half. They maintained that lead through the third, and the Devils then scored five goals in the final frame to secure the 16-6 win.

ASU, which is now 4-0 against Top 20 opponents this season, returns to action next weekend at the prestigious Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif. The Sun Devils will face the top two teams in the country, No. 1 USC and host No. 2 Stanford, as well as No. 19 Indiana in pool play, and then they will meet either No. 3 UCLA, No. 4 Hawai'i, No. 10 San Jose State or the U.S. Junior National Team in the tournament placement round on Sunday.

No. 7 Arizona State vs. No. 12 Hartwick
At UC Irvine Mini-Tournament - February 1
ASU 3-4-4-5=16
HART 1-0-4-1=6

ASU Goals - McGrath 4, Smith 4, Unbehaun 4, Hayes 2, Miles, Phelps