April 10, 2008
Sun Devil Game Notes (pdf)
TEMPE, Ariz. - The No. 7 Arizona State University water polo team, currently on a seven-game winning streak, will face a pair of MPSF foes this weekend as the 2008 regular seasons nears completion with only three games remaining. The Sun Devils (18-9, 5-4 MPSF) will open the weekend at home on Saturday when they face No. 15 CS Northridge (10-15, 1-8 MPSF) at 11:30 a.m. in Tempe. After the game, the team will travel to Los Angeles for a noon game Sunday at No. 1 UCLA (24-0, 10-0 MPSF) for its final road contest of the year.
CHECK YOUR WATCH!
The Sun Devils' game with the Matadors on Saturday will start at 11:30 a.m., not noon as previously scheduled.
GOING STREAKING
With their 5-4 road win at No. 17 UC Santa Barbara last weekend, the Sun Devils built their winning streak to seven in a row, making it the longest in program history and surpassing the streak of six the team had earlier this season. The streak is the third-longest in the MPSF right now behind UCLA, who has won 24 in a row, and Stanford, who has won eight.
NATIONALLY KNOWN
Following their upset of then-No. 4 California on March 15, the Sun Devils climbed from No. 8 to No. 7 in the national rankings. For the fourth week in a row, the Sun Devils remain at No. 7, their highest ranking of the year and the second-best in program history. Both of ASU's opponents this week are ranked in the Top 20, including No. 15 CS Northridge and No. 1 UCLA.
THE STANDINGS
The Sun Devils are 5-4 in the MPSF and are in sixth place overall. CS Northridge is 1-8 on the year and is 11th in the 13-team standings while UCLA holds a 10-0 record in the MPSF and is first. Following next weekend's games, the final standings will be used to determine the seedings for each team at the MPSF Championships in San Diego (April 24-27).
SOME OF THE BEST
When the Sun Devils and Bruins meet on Sunday in Los Angeles, it will mark the ninth time Arizona State has played a team in the national Top 5 this season. The Sun Devils and Bruins met in the opening game of the year (January 26) in Michigan with ASU falling, 14-5. ASU is 2-6 in games with the Top 5 this season with its wins coming in an 8-5 upset of No. 2 USC at the Stanford Invitational and No. 4 California at home.
CENTURY MARK
The victory at UCSB not only extended the Sun Devils' winning ways, it also gave the program a historic win as the team recorded its 100th victory. Arizona State, who has been playing at the varsity level since the 2002 season, is 100-111 all-time.
SECOND TO ONE
Back in 2003, the Sun Devils posted a 20-18 overall record, setting the program record for wins in a season. Currently, the 2008 team holds an 18-9 record with three regular season games to be played, as well as games at the MPSF Championships in San Diego April 24-27. The 18 wins posted this year are the second-most in program history, surpassing the previous total of 15 wins in 2006, head coach Todd Clapper's first year with the program.
NEED ONE MORE
The Sun Devils are 5-4 in the MPSF heading into the weekend and a victory over either the Matadors or Bruins would give the team six MPSF wins and establish a single-season record. The 2007 and 2006 teams both went 5-7 in league action after the 2005 team was 3-9 and 2004 was 2-9.
IN THE SERIES... CS NORTHRIDGE
Arizona State holds a 5-4 advantage in the all-time series and has won three in a row, including a 12-4 decision on February 23 at the Irvine Invitational. The Sun Devils are 2-1 all-time against the Matadors in games played in Tempe and 1-0 in home MPSF contests, winning the only league meeting, 7-5, during the 2006 season.
IN THE SERIES... UCLA
Arizona State is 0-8 all-time against UCLA in the series and lost the last meeting, a 14-5 decision to open the 2008 season at the Michigan Invitational. The Sun Devils are 0-2 all-time at the Bruins with both games counting toward the MPSF standings. The last time the two teams met in Los Angeles for a league contest was 2006 with UCLA taking a 9-3 win.
ONE MORE CENTURY MARK
While the Sun Devils won the 100th game in the program's history at UC Santa Barbara last weekend, Addison McGrath also reached 100 as she scored three goals to bring her season point total to 100, marking the first time in program history one player has recorded 100 or more points in a season. Entering the year, McGrath was the single-season record holder with the 88 points she scored last year. With those three points scored against the Gauchos, McGrath now has 236 career points, which ties her with Ashley Bower (2004-07) for the most points in program history. Bower graduated with 236 career points on 116 goals and 115 assists. Currently, McGrath has totaled 236 points on 160 goals and 76 assists.
SCORING QUEEN
Addison McGrath scored four goals at No. 8 San Jose State on March 1, all of which came in the second quarter. It was her second goal in that game, however, that is historic as it gave her 135 for her career and the school's scoring record, surpassing the 134 scored by Katie Hedley (2004-07). Then, at the ASU Invitational, McGrath took over another scoring record as she netted two goals against No. 19 UC San Diego (March 30) for season scores No. 63 and No. 64. Her second goal broke a tie with her and Rowie Webster, who held the single-season goal record of 63 that she scored in 2006. McGrath currently has score 67 goals, the most in the MPSF and the 10th-most in the nation.
BRICK WALLACE
Caylinn Wallace recorded 10 more saves in the win over UCSB last weekend, giving the senior goalie her 14th double-digit save total of the season. The single-season record-holder with 278 stops this year, Wallace ranks sixth nationally in total saves and currently leads the MPSF in both saves and saves per game average, stopping 10.3 per outing. Wallace needs just 22 more saves to make her the first ASU goalie to record 300 saves in a season.
WALLACE 1000
Wallace recorded 43 saves in four games at the ASU Invitational (March 29-30), including 17 against CS San Bernardino, but it was the last of eight saves she made against Cal Baptist that was special as that stop, which came in the fourth quarter, was the 1,000th of her career.
MOVING UP
With just a few games remaining, senior Katy Lawlor is nearing several milestones. For her career, Lawlor has scored 85 goals, the fifth-most in program history, and needs just five more to not only take over the fourth position, but also become just the fourth Sun Devil to score 90 or more goals in a career. Lawlor, who also ranks ninth in career assists with 34, has 119 career points and needs six more to move into the all-time Top 5 (Katie Davis has 125).
CLOSING IN - SEASON
Three players are currently close to adding their names to the single-season record board while three more are poised to add their names to the freshman record section. Overall, Katy Lawlor (32) needs seven more goals to crack the all-time Top 10 while Kelly Phelps (39G-15A-54P) is five points from the Top 10 and Addison McGrath (39) is 10 steals away. On the rookie chart, both Lauren Hayes and Kristen Wagner have 10 assists on the year and need one more to tie for 10th while Hayes (19G-10A-29P) is two points away from the Top 10 in freshman season points.
CLOSING IN - CAREER
Two players are close to adding their names to the all-time career ledgers as both need one more for the Top 10. Bonnie Miles has recorded 33 assists in her career and needs one more to tie for 10th while Kelly Phelps has scored 85 points (64G-21A) with her next point tying for the 10th-position on the list.
IN THE MPSF
Addison McGrath continues to lead the MPSF with 67 goals scored and ranks second with a 2.48 goals per game average while goalie Caylinn Wallace is first in both overall saves (278) and saves per game (10.30). As a team, the Sun Devils are fourth in goals scored with 254 and sixth in goals per game average at 9.41 on offense while the defense ranks seventh in goals against average (6.89) and eighth in fewest goals allowed (186).
NATIONAL STATISTICS
Nationally, several Sun Devils rank highly, including Addison McGrath, who has scored the 10th-most goals in the nation at 67. Defensively, Caylinn Wallace's 278 saves are the sixth-most. As a team, the Sun Devils rank fifth defensively (6.89 goals per game allowed) while standing 20th offensively (9.58 goals scored per game).
TEAM RECORDS
Through 27 games this year, the Sun Devils have scored 254 goals, the second-most behind last year's 268 scored in 28 games. The 2008 team is currently slightly ahead of last year's record pace of 9.57 goals per game as this year's squad is averaging 9.58 goals per game.
HAPPY TO UPSET
The Sun Devils have defeated three teams ranked higher than them this season, including an 8-5 defeat of then-No. 2 USC at the Stanford Invitational, a 7-5 defeat of No. 8 San Jose State in San Jose, Calif., and an 8-7 victory over No. 4 California last time out in Tempe. The Sun Devils were ranked No. 10 in the first two upset victories this year and moved up to No. 8 before downing the Golden Bears.
BIG UPSET
The Sun Devils, ranked 10th at the time, went 2-2 at the Stanford Invitational and finished seventh overall. The highlight came in the first of two games on Sunday as Arizona State handed No. 2 USC an 8-5 defeat, marking the highest ranked foe ASU has defeated in program history. The win, ASU's first over a Top 3 team in 23 tries against the Top 3 programs, surpassed the Sun Devils' 8-5 defeat of then-No. 4 Hawai'i at the 2006 Stanford Invite.
HISTORICAL
Arizona State's win over USC was not only historic for the Sun Devils as their highest ranked opponent they have defeated, but it also marked the first time since the NCAA began sponsoring a national tournament (2001) that a team outside of the Top 5 has knocked off a team in the Top 3 while also becoming just the fourth program to defeat USC in that span. The only other time a team other than UCLA or Stanford has defeated USC since 2001 was when No. 4 Hawai'i scored a 10-9 defeat of the top-ranked Trojans at the MPSF Championships in Irvine (April 29, 2006). Loyola Marymount, ranked fifth and seeded third at the NCAA Championships, was the other team outside of the Top 3 to defeat a Top 3 team when it upset No. 2 Stanford in the national semifinals at the 2004 tournament in Palo Alto, Calif.
NEW TERRITORY
With their win over No. 4 California (8-7), the Sun Devils recorded just their fifth all-time win against a team ranked No. 5 or higher and won for the second time this year. Entering the season, Arizona State had not defeated a No. 2 team (W, 8-5, USC) and was 1-7 all-time against the No. 4 team before downing Cal.
AWAY FROM THE POOL
While the team took the weekend off last week, Addison McGrath was still competing, picking up a javelin for the ASU Track & Field team. McGrath recorded a toss of 44.34m (145-06) to place fifth in her first competition in the event and move into the No. 4 spot on ASU's all-time Top 10 list. Her mark also qualified her for the NCAA West Region Championships, the qualifier for the NCAA Track & Field Championships.
FAST START
Opening the year 8-3, the Sun Devils have tied the program record for best start as both the 2006 and 2008 squads opened the year 8-3. Both teams also posted six-game winning streaks during that span and placed seventh at the Stanford Invitational.
NEXT TIME OUT
The Sun Devils will close out both the regular season and their home schedule next weekend as they play host to the Aztecs from No. 5 San Diego State at noon on April 19 (Saturday) at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center. The game also will be Senior Day as the program will honor its three seniors before their final home appearance. Those seniors include Traci Aparicio, Katy Lawlor and Caylinn Wallace.
