ASU water polo coach Todd Clapper knew his team would have to battle against No. 3 California in order to come away with the upset win. The No. 9 Sun Devils did just that, as they fought hard for four quarters, but were defeated 14-11 by the Golden Bears on Saturday afternoon at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center.
The Cal offense struck first with a goal 40 seconds into the game and then added two more early goals, including a lob shot that found its way into the net.
The Sun Devil defense would struggle early on, allowing six first-quarter goals to fall behind 6-1 after one quarter of play.
“I said, ‘Hey, we aren’t dead yet,’” Clapper said. “We were scrambling a lot. We started playing better defense and stepped up on the offensive end.”
The Sun Devils (15-10) came out fighting to open the second quarter. Junior attacker Sarah Harris netted two penalty shots early on to bring the offense to life.
“From a goal standpoint, to go from 6-1 to 6-3 was huge,” Clapper said. “Players started getting confidence, and those two goals really lifted us.”
Sophomore goalie Dana Harvey started in the net for the Sun Devils and did not disappoint. Despite allowing six first-quarter goals, Harvey held the Cal (21-5) offense to two goals in the second quarter, which allowed ASU to trim the lead.
“She was a little nervous in the first half,” Clapper said. “She really stepped up and found her groove in the second half, and stops on the defensive end allowed us to carry momentum in the game.”
Sophomore attacker Annabelle Carter, junior attacker Lynlee Smith and senior center Kari Walsh each added a goal in the second frame to pull within three heading into halftime.
Smith’s goal came with less than two minutes left in the first half, when she fired a skip shot that found its way into the goal.
After falling behind by three at the halfway point, the Sun Devils continued to fight on both ends of the pool in the third quarter.
Harris grabbed possession for ASU to kick off the third frame, and 21 seconds into the second half, sophomore attacker Kelsey White rifled a pass inside to freshman center Shannon Haas, who tossed it into the net for her first goal of the game.
Later in the period, senior attacker Bonnie Miles passed to Harris, who added another goal for the Sun Devils to cut the California lead to 10-8. Then after a goal by senior center Kelly Phelps, Harris knotted the score at 10 with less than three minutes to play in the third quarter.
“Offensively, it hasn’t been going my way so far,” Harris said. “I was taking on the challenge on offense and fulfilling my role that I have had on the team.”
The Golden Bears held a one-goal lead as play moved into the fourth quarter, but Harris once again tied the score at 11 early on in the period.
But Cal took control of the game with three goals in the last five minutes of the game to defeat the Sun Devils 14-11.
“You got to give [Cal] credit — they are a good team,” Clapper said. “They did a nice job limiting our high percentage opportunities in the fourth quarter.”
Although the Sun Devils were defeated in the end, Harris said she was not completely disappointed with the performance.
“We played a million times better than we did against Hawaii last week,” Harris said.
The loss to California was ASU’s 10th of the season, but said Clapper said he liked what he saw in the pool from his Sun Devils.
“Every loss stings, but the silver lining is that we are better than we were last weekend,” Clapper said. “We are getting better and climbing for the end of the season.”
Reach the reporter at gregory.dillard@asu.edu
