BERKELEY, Calif. – The No. 3 University of Hawai'i women's water polo team kicked off its season to a good start defeating No. 15 UC Santa Barbara, 7-5 and Pacific, 11-5 Friday afternoon on the first day of the Northern California Invitational hosted by the University of California.
Playing the first of back-to-back matches, UH (2-0) opened up the invitational facing off against UC Santa Barbara. Both teams kept the scoreboards dry in the first quarter of the match with no goals. By halftime however, the Rainbow Wahine and the Bears both stepped up, rallying to a 2-2 tie. In game three, they outscored Santa Barbara 4-1 giving themselves a manageable 6-4 lead by the start of the final quarter.
Although the Gauchos were able to drive in two more goals in the fourth quarter, the Rainbow Wahine closely held on to the lead with a goal of their own and a 7-5 victory.
Sisters Carmen (3) and Monika (3) Eggens combined to score six of UH's seven goals.
Right after battling it out with the Gauchos, the Rainbow Wahine started strong against Pacific with a 3-1 lead in the first quarter and continued in the second with a 4-1 run steering them to a solid 7-2 advantage at halftime.
Pacific picked it up in the third quarter, matching UH's goals 2-2 but were unable to climb back. The Rainbow Wahine finished the match outscoring the Tigers once again in the final quarter 2-1 for an 11-5 victory.
UH will continue the Northern California Invitational on Sunday, Jan. 31. They will face No. 14 UC Davis at 4:45 p.m. PT (2:45 HT) followed by Cal State East Bay at 6:15 p.m. PT (4:15 HT).
Hawaii 7, UC Santa Barbara 5
HAWAI'I 0 2 1 1 - 5
UC SANTA BARBARA 0 2 4 1 - 7
Hawaii 11, Pacific 5
HAWAI'I 2 5 2 2 - 11
PACIFIC 1 1 2 1 - 5
-UH-
