Sun Devil water polo takes seventh at UCI Invite
The No. 5 Arizona State University water polo team split a pair of games on the final day of the UC Irvine Invitational as the team settled for seventh overall in the elite tournament in Irvine, Calif.
Arizona State dropped No. 12 Michigan, 14-5, in the final game of the day after losing a heartbreaker to No. 9 San Diego State, 9-8, earlier in the day. The Sun Devils are now 14-2 on the season.
The Sun Devils will return to action next weekend as the team hosts its first home game of the season, taking on San Diego State again at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center at 1 p.m., MST, March 3.
Full recaps of each of today's games are below.
No. 9 San Diego State 9, No. 5 Arizona State 8
The No. 5 Arizona State University water polo team gave four goals in the fourth quarter and couldn't make up the difference as the Sun Devils dropped their second game of the season, 9-8, to No. 9 San Diego State.
The Sun Devils entered the fourth quarter with a 6-5 lead before the Aztecs scored four unanswered to jump to a 9-6 lead with four minutes remaining. Arizona State added two goals but couldn't get the equalizer as the team fell to 13-2 on the year.
Senior Annabelle Carter had three goals to lead Arizona State for the second time this weekend. Fellow senior Alicia Brightwell, who entered the game with the MPSF lead in goals scored and goals per game was held scoreless for the first time this season. Prior to Sunday's game, Brightwell hadn't scored less than two goals in any game this season.
The loss dropped Arizona State into the seventh-place game of the UCI Invitational, where they will compete against No. 12 Michigan.
No. 9 San Diego State def. No. 5 Arizona State, 9-8
SDSU - 2-1-2-4 = 9
ASU - 2-2-2-2 = 8
GOALS
SDSU: Poland - 3, Pezzolla - 2, Hermann - 2, Whalen, Moreno
ASU: Carter - 3, Haas - 2, Kertes, White, Salloum
SAVES
Campoli (SDSU) - 12
Hutchinson (ASU) - 7
No. 5 Arizona State 14, No. 12 Michigan 5
The No. 5 Arizona State University water polo regrouped after a tough loss to San Diego State to dominate No. 12 Michigan in the afternoon cap of the UCI Invitational in Irvine, Calif., 14-5, to take seventh place overall in the tournament.
Senior Alicia Brightwell recovered from her first scoreless game of the season to net four for the Sun Devils while the team used a solid defensive effort to hold the Wolverines to just five goals on 11 attempts.
Freshmen Anna Kertes and Petra Pardi as well as senior Mariam Salloum both added three goals each.
After seeing its offense sputter at times on the weekend, ASU came out firing against Michigan, jumping to a 6-0 lead midway through the second and never looking back.
The Sun Devils return to action next week as the team hosts its first home game of the season in a rematch against San Diego State on the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center in Tempe, Ariz., on March 3.
No. 5 Arizona State def, No. 12 Michigan, 12-5
ASU: 4-4-5-1 = 14
MICH: 0-2-2-1 = 5
ASU: Brightwell - 4, Kertes - 3, Salloum - 3, Pardi - 3, White
MICH: Golden, O'Donnell, Ivry, Hoegh, Moore
SAVES
Hutchinson (ASU) - 6
Adamson (MICH) - 10, Turner (MICH) - 2