ASU water polo takes fourth at MPSF Championships, best finish in history

The No. 3 Arizona State University water polo team fell in the third-place game of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament on Sunday, dropping a 10-7 decision to No. 4 UCLA at the Spieker Aquatics Center in Berkeley, Calif.

The two teams exchanged goals early as things were netted at two after eight minutes of play.  The Sun Devils (26-7, 4-2 MPSF) gave up the first four goals on the second period, however, as the Bruins pulled out to an insurmountable lead by the time Shannon Haaswas able to stop the bleeding with her goal just before the end of the half.

Senior Alicia Brightwell had three goals in what might be her final game as a Sun Devil, giving her 84 on the season to set the ASU all-time scoring record for a single season.  Brightwell also claimed the MPSF scoring title for the second consecutive season.

Redshirt freshman goalie E.B. Keeve was stellar yet again, scoring 19 saves from the cage to break her own ASU freshman MPSF tournament record while logging the most regulation saves of her career in the process.  It was also the second-most saves by a Sun Devil goalie in a game in the program’s history.

Keeve added on to her school record of single season saves as she finished the year with 372 breaking Sun Devil great Caylinn Wallace’s previous best by nearly 30 saves.

Ao Gao added three goals to the Sun Devil cause as well.

With the fourth-place finish, the Sun Devils earned their best MPSF finish in program history while Friday’s win over San Jose State provided the team with a new school record in single season wins as well.

GAME SUMMARY

UCLA:  2 4 2 2 – 10

ASU:  2 1 3 1 – 7