No. 9 ASU water polo claimed first place in the ASU Invitational after it defeated No. 16 Wagner College 8-6.
Wagner took 10 exclusions on Sunday, opening the door for the Sun Devil power play team. It made a huge difference as ASU went 2-9 on the power play and gave them the two-goal advantage.
Redshirt senior defender Ao Gao scored the first goal of the match at the 4:49 mark off an assist from freshman attacker Maud Koopman. Less than a minute later, senior attacker Daisy Carter doubled ASU's lead. She was assisted by junior attacker Stephanie Contreras.
ASU goalie redshirt sophomore Mia Rycraw was able to withstand Wagner's five shots in the first period to keep the score 2-0 headed into the second.
In the middle of the second period, Wagner took an exclusion penalty and gave the Sun Devils a 6-on-5 advantage. Senior center Abbey Kerth was able to capitalize on the opportunity and scored the third goal for the Sun Devils.
At 2:46 left to play in the second period, senior defender Katie Sverchek scored off a Gao assist. However, Wagner responded just 33 seconds later with its first goal of the day to cut ASU's lead to 4-1.
This gave the Seahawks momentum going into the half. They turned the game around in the third period with two quick goals to shave ASU's lead down to 4-3.
ASU managed to take advantage of a 5-meter penalty shot. Sverchek buried it, giving ASU some breathing room. Once again, Wagner College responded with another two goals and were able to tie the game up at 5-5 in the third period.
The Seahawks proved to be a more difficult matchup for the Sun Devils than any other game over the weekend. They were able to apply pressure to the ASU defense more consistently than other schools, and ASU had to work to fight off the Wagner attack.
The Sun Devils took the lead heading into the fourth after Kerth scored with 40 seconds remaining in the third period.
Wagner scored with about six minutes left in the fourth to tie the game at 6-6. However, the Sun Devils responded when freshman attacker Maud Koopman scored the eventual game-winning goal.
Carter scored another goal during a power-play with 1:26 remaining to give them breathing room, and the Sun Devils were able to seal their third straight victory with resiliency and successful defensive execution.
ASU will look to continue its winning ways against the University of Michigan and Cal Baptist on Saturday March 19th at Mona Plummer Aquatic Center.
Reach the reporter at Graham.Paul@asu.edu or follow @GrahamASUpress on Twitter.
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