This article was originally published on April 23, 2023.
The Arizona State Sun Devils (9-12, 1-5 Pac-12) took to the pool for the final time this regular season at home against San Jose State (12-18, 0-5 MWC), looking to close out the season with a win on Senior Day.
The Sun Devils started strong with a penalty shot goal from freshman utility Juliette Dhalluin to take an early 1-0 lead, helping them gain the momentum and confidence they needed.
Arizona State continued its dominance, jumping out to a 3-0 lead after the first quarter. It looked as though they might put the game out of reach for SJSU.
In the second quarter, SJSU pushed back with three goals. But, it was ASU redshirt sophomore utility Emily Van Zonneveld that netted a couple of goals of her own to keep the Sun Devils on top with a 5-3 lead going into the half.
“Each game we are getting better and better at playing as a team and distributing the ball more evenly across the pool,” said ASU head coach Petra Pardi.
ASU continued its dominance into the third quarter scoring three goals and playing tight defense, not giving SJSU any time or space to set up its offense. The Sun Devils went into the fourth quarter with an 8-5 lead.
The Sun Devils finished off strong in the fourth quarter, recording an additional three goals as Van Zonneveld and junior attacker Luca Petovary each ended the game with hat tricks.
“I think just really playing together as a team and fighting for our seniors because we were all really excited before the game to be playing in the pool one last time with our senior class,” Van Zonneveld said. “I think it was important to come together for one last game for them to remember.”
The Sun Devils were strong defensively all day with stout goaltending from senior Itzahiana Baca, recording 12 saves in 32 minutes of play. It was ASU’s ability to transition from defense to offense that gave them the edge throughout the day.
“Defense is a seven-person effort as everyone in the water has to be on the same page and work together to make sure that our defense is successful so really just hammering down on that is important,” Pardi said.
ASU did a great job of staying patient throughout the afternoon, taking what the defense gave them and not making any extra passes as well as sticking to the basics of simple passes and looking for open shots.
“I think we did a really great job of adapting to what they gave us during the game and changing that into our offense and capitalizing on their mistakes,” Van Zonneveld said.
It was a great ending to a season full of ups and downs for the Sun Devils. From winning streaks and working together as a team to facing some adversity and not being able to close out some tight games.
The Sun Devils will shift their focus to the MPSF Conference Tournament where they will face No. 3 UCLA in the quarterfinal round at 12:45 p.m. MST on April 28. The winner of this match will advance to Saturday’s semifinals playing the winner of No. 2 Stanford and No. 7 San Jose State.
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