ASU Water Polo ousts No. 19 Pacific, improves to 16-4

Alicia Brightwell continued her recent scoring tear as the #3 Arizona State University defeated No. 19 Pacific, 11-6, on Sunday in Stockton, Calif.

Brightwell had four goals for the Sun Devils (16-4, 3-1 MPSF) who matched their best start through 20 games in school history with the victory.  The senior out of Australia scored once in each quarter as ASU won its fourth-straight game. 

Anna Kertes, Petra Pardi and Shannon Haas all scored twice for the Sun Devils in the contest while Gao Ao also added a goal to the cause. E.B. Keeve had seven saves for the Sun Devils.

ASU jumped out to an early 3-1 lead in the first quarter On goals by Brightwell, Kertes and Pardi and maintained that two-goal edge with a 4-2 halftime advantage. The Sun Devils exchanged several goal with the Tigers  in the third but couldn’t manage to put them away and carried just a three-goal lead into the final frame.

Haas scored both her goals and, along with Brightwell’s fourth, helped ASU to three straight points in a two-minute span midway through the fourth quarter for the 11-5 edge that sealed the deal for ASU.

With the performance, Brightwell has now scored three or more goals in five consecutive games and has scored four or more in three of those.  She now has 50 goals on the year and remains the only Sun Devil to have scored in each contest she has appeared in this season.

ASU has another eventful week coming up as the team will host the ASU Invitational at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center in Tempe, Ariz., set to take place March 22-25. The Sun Devils will play four games on the weekend, including a pivotal MPSF contest against No. 2 Stanford on March 24.