Women’s Water Polo: Sun Devils Fork the Slugs, 9-4

TEMPE, Ariz., Feb. 2. THE Arizona State women's water polo team downed the Banana Slugs of UC Santa Cruz, 9-4, Sunday to wrap up the inaugural Arizona State Invitational and pushing its record to 3-1 on the young year.

Last year, it took the Sun Devils seven games before they won their third contest, also a victory over UCSC.

ASU took the lead early with Lena Soghomonian (So., Belmont, Calif.) scoring the first goal of the game while the Slugs were a man down. Tessa Wyborny (Fr., Walnut Creek, Calif.) assisted on the play. Two
minutes later, however, the team ASU blanked 14-0 the day earlier, put the equalizer on the board when Lizzy Ryan assisted Emily Erskine.

Tied at one, the Sun Devils scored three times in the second quarter while stopping every UCSC attempt to build their lead to 4-1. Katie Davis (Jr., Riverside, Calif.), Wyborny and Catherine Taber (Jr., Clayton, Calif.) each scored goals with Heather Rempfer (Fr., Lodi, Calif.) and Daya Mau (Fr., Honolulu, Hawaii) assisting on the first two goals, respectively.

The third stanza followed the same script as the first with Bryn Kuech (So., Bonsall, Calif.) scoring at the start of the period with Gili Kollan (So., Kiriat Bialik, Israel) collecting the assist. UCSC scored at the end of the quarter to bring the ASU lead to 5-2.

The final period saw ASU score three in a row to open play and add another later in the game. Rempfer, with an assist from Adriane Mota (Fr., Long Beach, Calif.), tallied first, followed by the hard work of Lauren Jacobson (So., League City, Texas) posting-up in front of the cage for her first score of the game. On their next possession, the Sun Devils worked the ball down the length of the pool with Kollan finding Jacobson in front. Jacobson caught the ball with her back to the net and unleashed a backhand shot that found its way
behind the goalie. Kim Currie (Jr., Chicago, Ill.) concluded the scoring for ASU with Kollan assisting again.

Overall on the weekend, ASU went 3-1 with No. 16 Hartwick following behind with a 2-1 record. No. 19 Pacific posted a 1-2 record while UCSC went 1-3 on their visit to Tempe.

The Sun Devils will head to San Diego, Calif., next weekend to participate in the UC San Diego Tournament. ASU will face No. 4 Long Beach State Saturday at 1 p.m. PST in the first round. The Sun Devils following opponents and game times will be determined based upon
their outcome with the 49ers.

1 2 3 4 F
UC Santa Cruz 1 0 1 2 4
Arizona State 1 3 1 4 9

Scoring Summary
First Quarter
AS – Lena Soghomonian (5:49) assist to Tessa Wyborny; with man-advantage SC
– Emily Erskine (1:26) assist to Lizzy Ryan Second Quarter AS – Katie Davis
(5:15) assist to Heather Rempfer AS – Tessa Wyborny (2:37) assist to Daya
Mau AS – Catherine Taber (2:02) Third Quarter AS – Bryn Kuech (5:48) assist
to Gili Kollan; with man-advantage SC – Katie Sanfilippo (0:35) assist to
Sally Hensen; with man-advantage Fourth Quarter AS – Heather Rempfer (5:32)
assist to Adriane Mota AS – Lauren Jacobson (4:29) assist to Heather Rempfer
AS – Lauren Jacobson (3:33) assist to Gili Kollan SC – Elizabeth Doerr
(3:02) assist to Parisa Forouhi AS – Kim Currie (2:17) assist to Gili Kollan
SC – Elizabeth Doerr (0:06)

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