LOS ANGELES - The 10th-ranked and seventh-seeded UC San Diego women's water polo team could only muster one goal in each half and fell to sixth-ranked and fifth-seeded Arizona State by a final score of 8-2 in the NCAA Championship fifth-place game, Sunday at Spieker Aquatics Center on the campus of UCLA. The Tritons finish in sixth and match their best showing at the NCAA Championship in school history. UCSD was also sixth in 2013.
The Tritons conclude their season with a 28-11 record. The 28 wins tie a program record set in 1994, and are the most for a team directed by seventh-year head coach Brad Kreutzkamp. The Sun Devils end their season at 21-8, equaling their own program best of fifth place.
UCSD's two goals came from redshirt junior two-meter defender Alexis Wieseler and senior attacker Emma Sasson. Senior goalie Courtney Miller had 13 saves inside the cage. ASU's Daisy Carter recorded a hat trick with a game-high three scores. Maud Koopman and Lena Mihailovic added two each for the Sun Devils.
The Tritons ended the contest with 35 shots, two more than the Sun Devils. However, UCSD had trouble getting past ASU goalie Mia Rycraw as she stopped 20 of the 35 attempts. The Tritons finished 1-for-7 on power plays, while ASU went 4-for-7 on six-on-five situations.
UCSD was shut out in the first quarter and allowed one Sun Devil goal. The Tritons had 10 shot attempts in the period, with seven saved by Rycraw. Abbey Kerth scored on a skip shot from two-meters to give ASU a 1-0 lead.
UCSD was able to even the score in the second frame as Sasson found the lower right corner of the cage from the right side on a power play. The Sun Devils struck on their next possession, 36 seconds later with their own six-on-five goal. The Tritons trailed ASU, 2-1, at halftime.
The Sun Devils took control of the game in the third quarter, shutting out UCSD and putting away three goals. ASU scored on its first two possessions of the second half, one on a power play from Mihailovic and the other on a counter attack from Carter. The Sun Devils got their third score of the period from Koopman on a six-on-five to make it a 5-1 game.
ASU scored on its first two possessions once again in the final frame. The Tritons got their second goal of the game on a counter attack. Miller stopped a shot, found senior attacker Laurel Kistler on the Sun Devil half of the pool and Kistler passed it to Wieseler from the right side to the left side of the cage for the score. ASU answered back with 31 seconds later with a score from Carter. The Sun Devils ran out the clock from there to take the win.
WIth six goals in three games, Wieseler was named to the NCAA Championship All-Tournament Second Team.
UCSD will lose five seniors in Miller, Kistler, Sasson, Julia Kirkland and Lauren Finwall, all of whom leave the program with four Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) titles and four NCAA Championship appearances in their four stellar years. UCSD will return 19 players including All-WWPA honorees, Wieseler, Lani Tittle and Lauren Boyer.
BOX SCORE
UCSD 0 1 0 1 - 2
ASU 1 1 3 3 - 8
Goals
UCSD: Emma Sasson 1, Alexis Wieseler 1
ASU: Daisy Carter 3, Lena Mihailovic 2, Maud Koopman 2, Abbey Kerth 1
Saves
UCSD: Courtney Miller 13
ASU: Mia Rycraw 20, Taylor Barrett 1
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