Photo courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics
TEMPE – Fighting back and forth as if they were playing a game of tug-of-war on an elementary school field, Arizona State water polo and California pulled at the momentum rope inch-by-inch with blocks on and offensive shots to get control in the pool.
It all came down to the fourth quarter. With the clock winding down, the tension could be felt in the air. It was as if time had frozen. Shot after shot, the score slowly creeped up. Both teams tugged the rope in their direction, with nothing to decide who the eventual victor would be.
But alas, California senior attacker Abbi Magee scored the game-winning goal, with only one second remaining on the clock.
All that the Sun Devils could do was try to throw the ball from the middle of the pool, where the referees threw the ball to them, but the last-ditch effort was blocked by California freshman utility player Despoina Drakotou.
The Sun Devils gripped the ropes, with senior goalkeeper Sanne Keijzer as their anchors. ASU tallied three blocks and 10 saves in the first half of the game inched California closer to falling over the line.
The Sun Devils (19-3, 1-2 MPSF) were pulled across the line by California (9-3, 1-1) in a 11-10 loss Saturday afternoon.
California refused to be pulled across the line, as they displayed heart to fight back and found in the Sun Devils’ strategy offensively and defensively. California continued to pull back, which made the Sun Devils replant its feet and shift its defense.
The high energy first half ended with the Sun Devils having more rope on their side, 5-4.
“We were in charge,” head coach Petra Pardi said. “We had a good first half defensively.”
Alas, the Sun Devils couldn’t hold on and pull the rope back for much longer.
By the third quarter, things started to slow down for the Sun Devils. They missed 10 missed shots in the third quarter –. That is four more missed shots than in the first half.and second quarter.
“We shot very early and we were slow in the zone,” Pardi said. “Three possessions in a row we had shot with 17 seconds still left on the clock.”
The trend mentioned by Pardi showed throughout the entire game, as they made only 28% of their shot attempts.
When asked about the main contributors to them not being able to pull out the win, Pardi said the team’s offense was “fast” when shooting shots.
“Our offensive shots weren’t hitting our center fastest,” Pardi said. “Our passing was inaccurate and our decision making was horribly shot.”
Though the Sun Devils didn’t win, they still had multiple standout performances. Senior goalkeeper Sanne Keijzer accounted for 11 of the 18 blocks and saves the team had.
Freshman attacker Dominika Kardos scored three of ASU’s 10 goals,with senior attacker Millie Quin scoring four as the leading scorer for her team.
As conference play has started, the Sun Devils have come close to winning against three of the teams in the top five. The Sun Devils lost to No. 4 California by one, No. 1 Stanford by four and in a non-conference to UCLA by seven.
“We are getting sick of being so close,” Pardi said. “How do we get that little extra when it matters and the little extra we need is going to require an insane amount of focus.”
The Sun Devils will go up against UCLA again, this time in conference play.
