ASU water polo had reason to be confident in the Triton Invite. At No. 5 in the country, they had not lost either of the two season games nor any of the 11 exhibition matches.
ASU got through the first two rounds of the tournament on Saturday with a dominant win over Cal State East Bay (16-5) and a close contest against Santa Barbara (7-6).
However, in the semifinals, the Sun Devils were matched with a foe that has made it to 12 consecutive NCAA tournaments, winning in 2013 and establishing itself as a perennial force: USC.
In its four games this season leading up to the semifinals, the Trojans had scored 17, 28, 20 and 15 points.
On Saturday afternoon, ASU held the potent offense to six points. The Trojans took a quick 2-0 lead before the Sun Devils could get one back.
ASU was unable to regain the lead, though. Sophomore goalie Mia Rycraw and 12 saves but ASU could only score three, the lowest of the season. Sophomore attacker Lena Mihailovic, senior center Abbey Kerth and sophomore utility Taylor Bertrand scored, but Kerth and Bertrand each only had one shot attempt.
After falling to USC, the Sun Devils went into the consolidation bracket against No. 7 UC Davis to fight for third place.
Kerth attempted a lot more shots than the first game of the day, shooting six times, but redshirt senior defender Ao Gao took control of the team. She scored three goals on four attempts and senior attacker Daisy Carter put in three of her own, helping ASU keep pace with the Aggies.
UC Davis led 5-4 at halftime.
ASU pulled ahead in the third, gaining an 8-5 lead before seeing UC Davis' deficit cut to 8-7 at the break.
Despite the lead, Rycraw's performance was not up to her usual standards. She only had five saves in the entire game. ASU had six steals as a team, and five different players allowed goals against them.
UC Davis' junior goalie, Olivia Husted, had 11 saves.
In the fourth quarter, UC Davis had tied the score at nine. With mere seconds left, junior utility Bryn Lutz nailed the goal to beat the buzzer and send the Sun Devils back to Arizona in fourth place in the 16-team contest.
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