April 5, 2008

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Addison McGrath scored three goals, including two in the second half on 5-meter penalty shots, to lead seventh-ranked Arizona State (18-9 overall, 4-4 in MPSF) past No. 17 UC Santa Barbara (4-15 overall, 0-9 in MPSF) in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation women's water polo match at Santa Barbara on Saturday.

McGrath's third goal, and second 5-meter penalty shot, came with 2:34 remaining in the match and gave her team a 5-3 lead. With 2:11 to play, UCSB sophomore Christie Clark scored her second goal of the match, a 6-on-5 tally, to pull the Gauchos within one, 5-4. In the final two minutes, Santa Barbara had some opportunities to tie, but could not put the ball in the back of the net.

Clark scored her first goal and gave UCSB a 1-0 lead as she drilled a shot from about 15 meters out as the buzzer sounded to end the first quarter. The advantage was short-lived as ASU's Kelly Phelps scored a 6-on-5 goal just 44 seconds into the second quarter. The Sun Devils took their first lead of the match with 6:20 remaining in the first half as McGrath scored during a 6-on-5.

Junior Gillian Morgan helped the Gauchos pull even when she tallied the first of her two goals with 3:25 to play. Morgan's score, another 6-on-5 goal, came from the left side and went just inside the left post.

McGrath scored her first five-meter penalty shot with just 1:24 to play in the third quarter, snapping the 2-2 deadlock. Bonnie Miles gave the Sun Devils a 4-2 edge when she found the back of the net with just under five minutes to play in the final quarter. Morgan responded for the Gauchos, knocking home her second goal with 3:12 to play. McGrath and Clark then traded their goals in the final minutes, resulting in the 5-4 final.

Senior Jenny Gonzales was outstanding in goal for Santa Barbara as she compiled six saves. ASU's Kaitlyn Morris was solid as well as she turned back five shots.

The Gauchos will remain at home to host sixth-ranked Cal on Sunday, April 6, at noon. The match will be at UCSB's Recreation Center Pool

	                1   2   3   4   Total
Arizona State		0   2   1   2   5
UC Santa Barbara        1   1   0   2   4
ASU Goals: Addison McGrath-3, Kelly Pelps; Bonnie Miles;
UCSB Goals: Christie Clark-2, Gillian Morgan-2
Goalie Saves: ASU 5 (Kaitlyn Morris-5);
UCSB 6 (Jenny Gonzales-5)