Sun Devils finish 3-1 at the Triton Invitational in San Diego, placing mid-table.

(Courtesy Sun Devil Athletics)

For consecutive weekends, No. 7 Arizona State water polo (9-2) traveled west, last time it was to the Hawaii Invitational, and this time to San Diego for the Triton Invitational.

The Sun Devils lost in an overtime nailbiter in their opener to No. 14 UC San Diego. They rebounded with three wins in a row, however against Concordia, No. 22 California Baptist, and No.15 UC Santa Barbara to claim 9th place in the tournament.

No. 7 ASU 15, No. 14 UCSD 16 (SV)

The Sun Devils and the tournament hosts, the UCSD Tritons, played one of the best games of the
young water polo season. The back-and-forth affair saw both teams landing heavyweight blows
and multiple lead changes throughout the contest before UCSD finally claimed a hard-fought
upset victory when redshirt senior attacker Caroline Christl found the back of the net for her fifth
goal of the night, this one coming in the sudden victory period, to defeat ASU.

The two teams battled throughout the first half with both sides scoring in flurries. A 4-0 run by UCSD in the second period allowed it to enter the half leading 5-7. ASU remained within striking distance after
a tremendous half from two of its biggest stars, junior attacker Millie Quin and junior center
Sophie Shorter-Robinson, who combined for goals on multiple occasions.

The drama truly intensified in the fourth period when freshman attacker Itziar Almeda sparked a
3-0 run on her own, assisting twice and scoring one of her own, tying the teams at 10 with two
minutes remaining for the Sun Devils. Both teams exchanged goals and after UCSD added another goal,
it seemed like they were on its way to a massive win until junior goalie Sanne Keijzer scored a
heroic goal with 19 seconds left, sending the teams to overtime.

UCSD scored twice early in overtime but redshirt junior 2-meter defender Molly Glad tallied her
fourth and fifth goals of the game to equalize the contest 15. The aforementioned Christl won it for the
Tritons just 46 seconds into the sudden victory period, stamping a heartbreaking loss for ASU. It
was UCSD’s first win over ASU since 2014.

No. 7 ASU 26, Concordia 4

The Sun Devils easily dispatched Concordia, erasing some of the memories of the brutal loss the
night prior. ASU’s stifling defense shinned in this one, holding Concordia to under five goals for
just the second time all season, the other coming against the No.1 UCLA Bruins.

ASU’s 26 goals tied its single-game scoring record but the most encouraging part of the game
was the youth movement on offense for the Sun Devils. ASU got incredible contributions from
underclassmen against Concordia. Sophomore attacker Alison Kokorowski led the way with five
goals and freshman attacker Layla Smith found the back of the net four times. Kokorowski
scored all five of her goals in the second half, including a fourth-period hat trick.

Both Freshman attackers Karly Frangieh and Itziar Almeda also finished with hat tricks. All but two of ASU’s goals came from underclassmen, a testament to the youthful talent on the team.

The two goals not scored by underclassmen occurred when Shorter-Robinson fired the ball into
the back of the net. In this game, the talented New Zealander scored her 100th goal for the Sun
Devils, another impressive accomplishment for a player who has elevated her game to new
heights and has become one of the best players in the country.

No. 7 ASU 18, No. 22 California Baptist University 7

In its last game of Saturday, ASU took care of business quite comfortably against CBU for the
second time this season. The squads met in Tempe two weeks ago, a contest ASU won 16-
10 and its rematch was much more of the same.

ASU got goal contributions from seven different players in the first half and went into the break
leading 10-4. Junior 2-meter defender Zoe Frangieh, freshman attacker Ani Pamp, and Millie
Quin all had a pair of goals.

The offensive onslaught continued in the third period when Quin scored a hat trick bringing her
game tally to five. Four different Sun Devils were able to find the back of the net in the fourth
period including Pamp who completed her hat trick with a stellar performance from the
freshman. The ASU defense held strong as well, holding CBU to three fewer goals than they
scored in the previous meeting.

ASU finished the day 2-0 and outscored its opponents a combined 44-11 on the second day of
the Triton Invitational. The win over CBU would move ASU into the 9th place game where its
opponent for the fourth straight game would be a California school, this time UC Santa Barbara.

No. 7 ASU 9, No. 15 UC Santa Barbara 6

ASU cliched 9th place in the Triton Invitational with their victory over a gritty UCSB team. For
just the second time all year, the Sun Devils were held to a single-digit goal tally. Nonetheless,
ASU’s defense stepped up and helped deliver an all-important victory.

ASU was on the board first through Almeda who would finish with yet another hat trick, her fifth
of the season, in the final game of the tournament. The scoring continued and both teams were
able to beat the opposing goaltender on multiple occasions, as the first period came to a close, 4-
4 was the score.

UCSB would only score twice more and Quin took control of the game for ASU. Two of her
four goals kickstarted a run for the Sun Devils in which it took the lead and never relinquished it.
Karly Frangieh put an exclamation point on the dominant win for the Devils who were victorious
9-6 over the Gauchos.

Next up for ASU is a date with the defending national champions, the No. 1 UCLA Bruins, in
Tempe next Sunday. It will be a chance for ASU to announce itself to a national audience and
prove that they are a legitimate contender this year.