(Irvine, CA) No. 7 (Tied) Sun Devil Water Polo (6-6) had two scorers with 3+ goals in Juliette Dhalluin and Tina Doherty, but ultimately suffered a 10-15 loss to No. 7(T) Long Beach State on the final day of the Barbara Kalbus Invitational. The loss solidified the Sun Devils as 8th place finishers, which is an improvement from the 11th place finish in 2022.
Itzahiana Baca and Alexa Knutson each saw time in the cage with Knutson taking over for the second half she allowed just four goals. Despite holding the Beach to the four goals, the Sun Devils four second half goals weren’t enough to overcome the first half deficit.
The offense managed to draw nine exclusions, but the 10 drawn exclusions by the Beach along with three ASU penalties were the difference maker in the contest as LBSU converted on each penalty shot they saw.
Long Beach scored seven goals in the opening frame to the Sun Devils’ three to take an early 7-3 lead. Tina Doherty, Alba Olive Marti, and Juliette Dhalluin were the goal scorers in the frame.
After the hot start, ASU was matching nearly every Long Beach goal allowing four in the second quarter while putting three on the board. In the second half of play, the Sun Devils gave up four goals but notched four of their own.
UP NEXT: The Sun Devils will open Mountain Pacific Sports Federation conference play at California, for a Saturday matinee game against the Golden Bears on March 4 at 2:00 pm MST.
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Claudia Schwartz
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