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Twelve Score in Water Polo's Series Sweep Over LMU

by thesundevils.com
Jan 30, 2022

TEMPE, Ariz. -- In the final game of the Sun Devils' weekend series against No. 17 Loyola Marymount, they soared to victory with a scoreline of 18-10. With an impressive score sheet that had eleven different scorers in the previous match against the Lions, the Sun Devils beat it in today's match with twelve different scorers, six of them collecting two goals each. Freshman attacker, Vanda Baksa again led the charge with six points off of a goal and five assists and Baksa tacked on two steals to get it done on both sides of the ball.

Head coach Todd Clapper was impressed with his team's ability to bounce back from last weekend's top-10 matchups, attesting they "had really high energy." This successful outing for the Sun Devils was highlighted by their 18 goals which is the 12th time in program history that the team has scored 18 or more goals at home. 
 
Captain, Amira Van Buren scored just eight seconds after the Sun Devils won the sprint, with a trademark move in the center to bury it in the back of the net. Not long after, the Lions got on the board, but less than half a minute later Hungarian defender, Lara Kiss put them up with a shot from distance. The Lions responded and equalized the game, bringing it to a stalemate of 2-2. Senior Emma Fraser, Stevilyn Griffin, and Alba Olivé Marti ended the quarter with a trio of goals to give the Sun Devils a 5-3 lead after one.
 
A minute into the second quarter, senior Blaire McDowell netted her first goal of the game to bring the maroon and gold to a lead of 6-3. Next, the Lions and Sun Devils would trade some goals bringing the score to 7-5, with Emily Bennett scoring for ASU. However, the second half of the second quarter is where "the defense really stepped up" for the Sun Devils according to head coach Todd Clapper. The defense stood strong against the Lions while the Sun Devils scored four unanswered goals to end the half, coming from Abby Begg, Luca Petovary, Alba Olivé Martí, and Borbala Kekesi who scored with twelve seconds remaining. With an 11-5 lead, the Sun Devils ended the half in control of the game.
 

The scoring in the third quarter started with Vanda Baska who picked up her only goal after dishing five assists. McDowell netted her second of the day following a goal from the Lions to maintain the Sun Devils' lead of seven. The Lions fought back with another goal, but Van Buren secured her brace with a goal that accelerated past the fingers of the Lions' goalkeeper. Emily Bennett netted her second goal of the match to close the third quarter to make it a 15-7 game going into the fourth.
 
Senior Bori Kekesi started the final quarter with her second goal of the game bringing the Sun Devils lead to 16-7. Marie Rudasics replaced Itzahiana Baca in the net midway through the fourth for her second appearance of the season. The Lions answered with back-to-back goals of their own. The score total increased when sophomore Tara Schaffer scored her first goal of the season with less than three minutes remaining in the match. Griffin put the nail in the coffin for the maroon and gold with the Sun Devils' final goal and her second of the game bringing the lead to 18-9, with the final score of 18-10.

 
UP NEXT: The Tempe team will look to continue playing with that energy when they travel to California for the Stanford Invitational to play a match against No. 13 UC Davis, a pair of games against No. 2 Stanford, and a rematch against No. 4 California spanning from Saturday, February 5th to the 6th.
 

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