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Water polo prepares for another tough matchup


After a brief home stand, the ASU water polo team will travel to Southern California for four games this weekend.

The No. 7 Sun Devils (5-7, 0-2 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) will play Bucknell, Colorado State and Long Beach State in the Claremont Convergence Saturday, but have spent the week preparing for their Friday showdown with USC.

The No. 2 USC Trojans (9-3, 1-1 MPSF), who have won 19 straight home games, will be a tough test for the Sun Devils, but ASU is not intimidated.

“When we’re playing our best polo and creating opportunities we are good enough to play with anybody,” ASU coach Todd Clapper said. “We respect everybody we play but we definitely aren’t scared of anybody.”

USC is undefeated at home this season, but the Trojans lost their last game against No. 5 Cal on Saturday.

Their other two losses on the season were both to No. 1 Stanford.

ASU is coming off a win over Cal Baptist where they scored 16 goals, but the Sun Devils have not won an MPSF game in over two years. Their current road record is 4-6, with all of those losses coming to teams nationally ranked.

In ASU’s last MPSF contest, a loss to No. 10 UCLA, the Sun Devils created multiple opportunities to score, but were unable to finish and ended the contest with just one goal. They believe that if they are able to finish their offensive possessions, they will have an opportunity to upset USC.

“We just need to finish our shots,” ASU senior Lynlee Smith said. “We need to make sure we put the ball in the back of the net.”

While Clapper respects the Trojan team, he also feels that finishing will be important.

“They’re deserving of our respect for sure,” Clapper said of USC. “If we can bury the shots when we create opportunities [then] we can play with and beat anybody.”

The offense of junior Mariam Salloum, along with Smith, will be necessary for the Sun Devils’ offense to succeed.

The two combined for nine goals in ASU’s last game and will need a similar performance if the Sun Devils want to end both USC’s 19 game home winning streak and ASU’s long conference losing streak.

Reach the reporter at william.boor@asu.edu

Friday’s game

No. 7 Sun Devils at No. 2 Trojans

When: TBA

Where: Los Angeles

USC update: The Trojans have only lost three games this season and two of them were to the top ranked team in the country, Stanford. USC also has won 19 straight home games and defeated ASU 14-5 in Tempe last season.


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