The No. 8 ASU water polo team kicked off its season in fine fashion over the weekend, as the Sun Devils brought the heat to the icy Midwest.
The Sun Devils took part in the Michigan Invitational in Ann Arbor, Mich., where they won all three of their games and scored a combined 40 points while only giving up 21.
Saturday morning the team faced off against Colorado State and took an early 6-0 lead after the first quarter.
In her collegiate debut, sophomore Lynlee Smith scored an impressive four goals, matching the four goals scored by senior Addison McGrath. Also in her first collegiate game, freshman Mariam Salloum tacked on three goals of her own as the Sun Devils buried CSU 20-5.
Saturday afternoon, the Sun Devils went head-to-head with No. 14 CS Northridge in what turned out to be a hard-fought contest. The Sun Devils fell behind 3-2 in the first quarter, but fought their way back to lead 8-7 at the end of the third quarter.
With a little more than a minute remaining, junior Bonnie Miles scored the go-ahead goal as the Sun Devils went on to win 10-9.
The highlight reel for Saturday’s late game was dominated by the five goals scored by senior Addison McGrath. Saturday was McGrath’s 50th career multiple goal game, an ASU record. McGrath’s five goals in a single game put her two goals shy of the program-record seven goals she set against Hawaii in early 2008.
Sunday the Sun Devils got back in the pool to take on Bucknell in the final showdown of the weekend tournament.
The team led by five at the half thanks to four goals from McGrath, three goals from sophomore Nikki Unbehaun and an outstanding effort from freshman goaltender Dana Harvey. The Sun Devils went on to win 15-7.
The team barely has time to dry off before heading to the Cal Baptist Mini-Tournament in Riverside, Calif. on Saturday, where they will take on CS Bakersfield and face a rematch with CS Northridge.
Reach the reporter at jaking5@asu.edu.
