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No. 6 ASU water polo defeats No. 14 Indiana

Mia Rycraw saved 16 shots and Ao Gao assisted two goals.

ASU water polo team plays Indiana in Tempe,AZ,Jan. 23rd, 2016
ASU water polo team plays Indiana in Tempe,AZ,Jan. 23rd, 2016

In the first water polo match of the season, No. 6 ASU took down No. 14 Indiana University Hoosiers.

The match started with a quick offensive from the Hoosiers as they forced a penalty from the Sun Devils right off the sprint.

The Sun Devils were able to stave off an early exclusion, eventually taking advantage of a Hoosiers penalty to take an early 1-0 lead at the 5:39 mark when senior attacker Daisy Carter slotted one in on the man advantage.

ASU continued its hot start with a pretty chip shot goal at 3:52. Sophomore attacker Lena Mihailovic tossed a beauty just over the keeper inside the far post for a goal to put ASU up 2-0.

ASU did not let up and scored its third goal on a break away from Mihailovic, followed by a nice pass to sophomore utility player Kayla Casas, who slotted in just past the Hoosier goalkeeper at 2:32.

ASU continued the onslaught with a fourth goal at 1:35 from freshman center Rosie Huck. It was her first collegiate goal.

"It was amazing to score my first goal of the year," Huck said. "I drove in and I turned because that's my job as the center. I just turned and shot quickly."

After the first period, the Sun Devils had a commanding lead 4-0 over the Indian Hoosiers. Their passing and solid defense set them up for their scoring opportunities.

Redshirt senior defender Ao Gao then assisted on a goal with a great pass in deep. Senior center Abbey Kerth finished it off for a 5-0 lead in the match.

Redshirt sophomore goalie Mia Rycraw played a dominant first half, stonewalling Hoosier attackers. She finished the game with 16 saves.

The match leaned in the favor of ASU when senior center Abbey Kerth scored a goal, assisted by Gao, to take a 6-0 lead.

Gao said that playing with Kerth for so long has created chemistry between the two.

"We know each other's games pretty well," Gao said. "We have great communication and that helps us a lot."

At 1:02 left in the half, the Hoosiers had their best opportunity. They got a ball in deep that was sent just off the crossbar.

After the halftime break, ASU continued their hot start with its seventh goal of the game, this one coming from senior defender Katie Sverchek.

Indiana finally got on the board by using quick offensive movement. Later in the third period, on a possession that appeared to be broken, Hoosier freshman defender Karrie Kozokar fired a shot from a far distance to give them their second goal of the match.

ASU led 8-2 at the end of the third.

The Hoosiers weren't done scoring. Rycraw saw a save opportunity and made one of her few mistakes of the game. The ball ricocheted off her right arm and into the net, giving Indiana its third goal.

Neither team scored for a little over two minutes, but at the 3:53 mark, Sverchek took a nice forward pass and slotted it right past the goaltender for her second goal of the game.

Just 20 seconds later, Indiana responded with another goal to put the score at 10-4 ASU. Indiana continued its momentum swing with a skip shot from Hoosier freshman defender Kelly Matthews.

The deficit was cut to five, but the late surge was not enough for the Hoosiers. ASU won 10-5.

It was the first match of a four-game set against the Indiana Hoosiers this weekend, with the second match coming up at 3:30 today at Mona Plummer Aquatic Center.

"In the second match I would like to get more shots on goal since we focused mostly on defense in the first match," Gao said. "I think we can communicate better as a team."


Reach the reporter at Graham.Paul@asu.edu or follow @GrahamASUpress on Twitter.

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