March 27, 2003

TEMPE, Ariz. - Make it six straight wins and counting for the 11th-ranked UC Santa Barbara women's water polo team, which cruised past No. 20 Arizona State 9-1 Thursday afternoon at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center.

With the victory, the Gauchos improve to 13-8 on the season. Meanwhile the Sun Devils saw their five-game winning streak snapped and fell to 16-10 in their second year as a Division I program.

UCSB came out on the offensive and never let up, scoring a pair of goals in each of the four quarters, with the lone exception coming in the first period when they scored three times. Sophomore Katy Kunkel led the charge with a career-high four goals while senior Megan Ricks assisted on the first five Santa Barbara scores to give the visitors a comfortable 5-0 lead at halftime.

ASU pressed for a shot on goal and turned up the offensive intensity to start the third quarter and the move paid off. With 1:06 evaporated from the game clock, Gili Kollan drew an ejection just two-meters away from the Gaucho net. She quickly restarted play with a flip pass to her left where fellow sophomore Bryn Kuech immediately fired it past backup goalie Erin Enriquez. The Sun Devil score prevented the first shutout of the team by an opponent in school history.

Following the Sun Devil goal, UCSB added two more of its own in each of the last two stanzas to build the score to its final 9-1 tally. Seniors Theresa Gorbett and Erin Lezak each tallied one goal apiece, extending their consecutive scoring streaks to eight and six matches, respectively.

The Gauchos continue their busy stretch of six matches in seven days by returning to Campus Pool for a pair of Mountain Pacific Sports Federation contests this weekend. On Saturday San Diego State comes to town, followed by UC Irvine on Sunday. Both matches are slated to begin at 1:00 p.m.

                       	1	2	3	4	  F
#11 UC Santa Barbara	    3	2	2	2	  9
#20 Arizona State	       0	0	1	0	  1

Scoring Summary	
First Quarter	
UCSB:	9 Teresa Gorbett (7 Megan Ricks)	at 5:18
UCSB:	16 Jennifer D'Anna (7 Megan Ricks)	at 4:55
UCSB:	17 Katy Kunkel (7 Megan Ricks)	at 0:01

Second Quarter
UCSB:	17 Katy Kunkel (7 Megan Ricks)	at 4:35
UCSB:	17 Katy Kunkel (7 Megan Ricks) with man advantage	at 2:20

Third Quarter
ASU:	7 Bryn Kuech (10 Gili Kollan) with man advantage	at 5:54
UCSB:	16 Jennifer D'Anna (18 Erika Clark)	at 4:41
UCSB:	17 Katy Kunkel	at 3:10	1	7

Fourth Quarter
UCSB:	3 Erin Lezak	at 3:47
UCSB:	5 Susie Lewis (19 Nicola Bishop)	at 0:34