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HONOLULU – The third-seeded No. 6 University of Hawai'i women's water polo team (17-8, 3-2 Big West Conference) defeated second-seed No. 10 Cal State Northridge (14-11, 3-2 BWC), 6-5 Saturday night at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatics Complex in the semifinal round of the 2015 Big West Women's Water Polo Tournament. UH is set to face top-seeded UC Irvine, Sunday night for the championship title at 6:00 p.m.

In a tight match-up all the way through junior Paula Chillida Esforzado came up huge off of the power-play midway through the final quarter, finding the net to give the Rainbow Wahine a 6-5 advantage. With just three seconds remaining, CSUN scrambled for a goal with the final possession but Sarah Logan (five saves) denied the Matadors' final attempt.

Chillida Esforzado scored a match-high four goals for the Rainbow Wahine, while Claire Nixon added two. Meanwhile, Kelcy Barrott led the Matadors with a pair of goals.

Barrott scored the first goal of the night midway through the first quarter to give CSUN a 1-0 lead, however, Chillida Esforzado hit one in from the middle with 43 seconds on the clock to tie it. Following a penalty foul called on the Matadors, Chillida Esforzado sailed it in for the conversion and a 2-1 lead. Nixon extended UH's run soon after, hammering in a goal from five-meters out. However, Madeline Sanchez's final lob cut into UH's lead 3-2 by halftime.

Early into the third, Nixon walked it in and took on the goalie one-on-one, scoring to give UH a 4-2 lead.  However, the Matadors pulled off two-straight goals to recover and tie it 4-4. Chillida Esforzado  answered back again, but CSUN's Kelcie Ferreira hit a center cage shot with 50 seconds left to tie it again 5-5 going into the final quarter.

UH continues action tomorrow night against top-seeded UC Irvine (18-7, 4-1 BWC) as they fight for the Big West Championship title at 6:00 p.m. The Anteaters defeated the Aggies in today's semifinal match-up, 8-6. The Big West Tournament concludes Sunday afternoon with Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara fighting for fifth place at 2:30 p.m., followed by the third place match with UC Davis taking on CSUN at 4:15 p.m.


Saturday, Apr. 25, 7:30 p.m.

Teams	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	OT1	OT2	SD	Final
No. 2 CSUN	1	1	3	0	-	-	-	5
No. 3 Hawai`i	1	2	2	1	-	-	-	6

Scoring: