(Photo Courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics)
TEMPE – As the second half began to loom closer, Bonnie Tyler’s “Holding Out For A Hero” blasted over the speakers at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center. The famous chorus belted out “I need a hero,” something rather symbolic for the No. 10 Arizona State Water Polo team (16-5, 0-2 MPSF) that trailed by four goals at halftime to the No. 1 Stanford Cardinal (13-0, 1-0 MPSF).
The Sun Devils however, would not get their “hero” who could’ve lead them to a historic upset, instead, Stanford controlled much of the second half similar to how it did in the first half. The Cardinal extended their lead late in the third quarter and early in the fourth, coasting to their first MPSF win of the year, 18-12 over the Sun Devils.
Stanford was led by an astonishing six Olympians and was able to lean on its experience as the game got tough. Having this type of senior leadership from players who have done it at the highest level is something this years ASU team has struggled with at times. However, head coach Petra Pardi was pleased with the improvements she saw from her team.
“I think the score reflects that we are on the right trajectory,” Pardi said. “The fact that we were able to score 12 goals against the number one ranked team shows we have a lot of firing power and a lot of abilities on offense, however, we cannot let 18 goals go past us.”
On the offensive side of things, ASU was anchored by a trio of players with three or more goals. Junior attacker Millie Quin led the way with four goals and an assist. Quin found the back of the net twice of five-meter shots skipping them past the Cardinal netminder as well as scoring as time expired in the game.
Junior center Sophie Shorter-Robinson and freshman attacker Itziar Almeda were both able to add hat tricks, tallying up for 10 of ASU’s 12 goals, an impressive figure. The work rates of both Shorter-Robinson and Almeda caught the eye of Pardi and left a lasting impression on the head coach.
“We rely on those girls a lot, not just on offense, but on defense,” Pardi said. “Aside from getting the hat tricks if they didn’t score a single goal today, but you just looked at the effort and intensity that they put into these four quarters it was amazing.”
Defensively, junior starting goalkeeper Sanne Keijzer was back in the cage for ASU, a welcomed sight as she had played sparingly since picking up a shoulder injury. Keijzer was able to make some huge momentum saves keeping the Sun Devils in the contest for most of the game. She finished with nine saves and six steals whilst battling both the previous shoulder problems and the nation’s top team.
“It was her last time being back in the goal for the season,” Pardi said. “She has been battling a pretty serious shoulder injury for a year, she’s been putting up with the pain every single day, we’ve decided that she shouldn’t be putting up with that pain anymore.”
Losing Keijzer for the year is unfortunate but Pardi has mentioned on multiple occasions the confidence both she and the team have in freshman goalkeeper, Keri Glad. Glad even represented Team USA at the U18 World Championships and is primed to be a huge part of ASU’s future.
The Sun Devils will be back in action on Mar 22 when familiar foe, Indiana University, it travels to Tempe for MPSF play, and both sides met earlier this year, a match the Sun Devils came out victorious in, 14-12 in overtime.
