TEMPE, Ariz. – San Diego State and Arizona State's water polo teams played to a 1-1 tie through the first 13 minutes, but the No. 6 Sun Devils then tallied nine unanswered goals en route to an 11-5 victory in the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center on Sunday morning.
Senior driver Karli Canale let the No. 17 Aztec attack with a pair of goals. She has scored multiple goals in each of the team's three games this year and leads the squad in both goals (8) and shots (23).
Emily Bennett, a senior utility, scored a goal as did junior drivers Spencer Samuel and Jessica Leckich. Bennett and Leckich scored in each of the three games at Arizona State and for Samuel, her goal on Sunday was her first of the season.
As opposed to the two games on Saturday, in which Arizona State jumped out to a lead early in the match, San Diego State (0-3) kept the game close through the first quarter and a half. The Sun Devils got the opening goal at the 6:26 mark, but Canale erased that deficit 24 seconds later with her first goal of the game.
The score remained tied 1-1 until there was 2:54 to play in the second quarter. Arizona State (3-0) then closed the first half with three successive goals to take a 4-1 lead into the intermission.
The third period belonged to the Sun Devils. They scored five times to push the lead out to eight goals, 9-1, heading into the final frame.
ASU scored two minutes into the fourth quarter to make it a 10-1 game, but the San Diego State (0-3) fought back with goals from Canale, Bennett, Leckich and Samuel sandwiched around an Arizona State tally for the final score of 11-5.
Leckich and Samuel's goals came on penalty shots and the Aztecs were 2-of-4 in that department for the game.
The Aztecs and Sun Devils produced 27 and 30 shots, respectively. Canale paced SDSU with six shots and Bennett attempted five. For Arizona State, Luca Petovary took a team-high six shots and was one of four Sun Devils to tally two goals in the game.
San Diego State returns to action this Friday in the Aquaplex against UC San Diego. The game is scheduled to start at 11 a.m. PT and will be the first of eight straight home games for the Aztecs. They will not have to travel again until they have three straight games in northern California starting on March 12.
No. 6 Arizona State 11, No. 17 San Diego State 5
Mona Plummer Aquatic Center, Tempe, Ariz.
SDSU: 1-0-0-4 -5
ASU: 1-3-5-2 -11
SDSU Goals: Karli Canale (2), Emily Bennett (1), Jessica Leckich (1), Spencer Samuel (1)
ASU Goals: Cameron (2), Fraser (2), Petovary (2), Rogge (2), Kiss (1), McDowell (1), Van Zonneveld (1)
SDSU Saves: Zoe Morgan (6)
ASU Saves: Baca (6), Karimazondo (3)
-SDSU-
Water Polo Falls 11-5 In Finale At No. 6 Arizona State
