(San Jose, CA) No. 16 Sun Devil Water Polo (10-13) was going goal-for-goal with No. 21 San Jose State (12-20) in the 10-9 overtime win, which is the first overtime victory for ASU since 2017. The Sun Devils will play for fifth place in tomorrow’s game against No. 15 Indiana at 11 am MST. The game can be viewed via Game On Live Studio.
Head Coach Petra Pardi praised her team’s overtime performance and relayed the message to start the two three minute periods, “mental toughness and resilience during a very taxing six minutes in overtime is key.”
Itzahiana Baca got her third straight start and recorded 11 saves against the Spartans, which is just one shy of her season-high.
The Sun Devils had five different scorers, and were led by the freshman duo in center Sophie Shorter-Robinson and attacker Juliette Dhalluin who each notched three goals apiece. Shorter-Robinson recorded her third game with 3+ goals this season, and Dhalluin extended her scoring streak to 23 games and had her 13th game with 3+ goals.
How it Happened:
SJSU struck first, but freshman center Sophie Shorter-Robinson’s goal tied the game at one. Two straight goals from the Spartans gave them a 3-1 lead. Graduate attacker Tina Dohertyscored at the four minute mark to pull the Sun Devils within one headed into the second quarter.
There were four goals in the second frame, all of which were scored in the final two minutes. A backhanded shot from junior center Alba Olivé Martí tied the game up at three apiece with just two minutes left before the half. SJSU got the goal back on the counter with 1:16 remaining and had a 4-3 lead. On the next possession for the Sun Devils, Shorter Robinson recorded her second of the day, but SJSU was trading goals with the Sun Devils and managed one on the other end for a 5-4 lead.
Dhalluin extended her scoring streak to 23 straight games on ASU’s first possession of the second half to tie the game at five. She assisted on the next goal to Luca Petovary, and the Sun Devils saw their first lead of the game at 6-5. Two straight Spartan goals gave them a 7-6 lead and prompted an ASU timeout. In the final seconds of the quarter SJSU turned the ball over on an offensive call and was called for an exclusion, so ASU called another timeout with 15 seconds on the clock but did not get a shot off.
A drawn penalty allowed Dhalluin to get a shot off, but it was blocked. There was no scoring in the next four minutes. Shorter-Robinson drew an exclusion, and put away a 6-on-5 goal to tie the game 7-7 with 3:41 remaining. SJSU scored with one minute on the clock, and ASU called another timeout down by one. In the final possession, Dhalluin drew an exclusion to give the Sun Devils a man-up opportunity. With just 16 seconds, Dhalluin tied it up and prompted an SJSU timeout. The Spartans pulled their goalie to play 7-on-6, but did not score which sent the game to OT.
In OT1, Dhalluin won the opening sprint for ASU but the Sun Devils could not take an early lead. On the next possession, Doherty found the back of the net to put ASU up 9-8. Dhalluin followed it up with her third goal, thanks to Olivia Traxler’s assist, and ASU had its largest lead of the game at 10-8. SJSU did not score in the first overtime period.
In OT2, ASU won the sprint, but turned the ball over and SJSU scored on their first possession to make it a 10-9 Sun Devil lead. With 1:19 remaining Petovary drew an exclusion to give ASU another man-up opportunity, but SJSU blocked Van Zonneveld’s shot attempt and called a timeout with a minute remaining. The Spartan shooter missed the shot and ASU called their timeout with 40 seconds remaining. Petovary turned it over out of the timeout, and ASU’s defense forced a missed shot and locked up the game.
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Claudia Schwartz
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