HONOLULU - It took the 5th ranked University of Hawai`i women's water polo team one quarter to get the cob webs out and then rolled to a 10-6 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation victory over No. 7 California today at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex.

Cal jumped out to an early 1-0 lead at the 5:26 mark in the first when the Bears picked up a steal and scored on a 2-on-1 break away by Allison Gold. UH's Audrey Harrer tied the scored when she picked up a carom off the cross bar and dumped it in at the 4:19 mark.

In the second quarter, the Bears retook the lead on Gold's back-handed shot at the 6:20 mark. UH then took advantage of a power-play opportunity as Iefke Van Belkum found Beth Novick at the 2-meter mark, who pivoted and fired past Cal goalie Alex Feune de Colombi to tie it at two apiece. UH took the lead for good with 49 seconds left as Monika Kruszona whipped in a shot in the lower left angle of the goal, then put the Rainbow Wahine up by two as she found the left corner again as the horn sounded.

UH kept the pressure on in the third quarter as Anna Sieprath skipped in a shot from on top at the 6-meter area to make it 5-2. Kruszona added her third goal at the 2:14 mark as UH took advantage of a 2-on-1.

Cal cut the deficit to two as Elsie Windes scored at the one minute mark and Gold with 33 seconds left on back-to-back 4-meter penalty shots.

In the fourth, Shannon Carroll gave UH a three-goal lead as she lobbed a shot from the left side. Sieprath squeezed in her second goal of the game with 4:46 left as UH went back up by four. The Rainbow Wahine went up by five as Van Belkum whistled in a 4-meter penalty shot in the lower left side. Cal cut it to four as Lauren McGee picked up a blocked shot off the arm of UH goalie Meike De Nooy and tossed it in at 3:10. Windes made it 9-6 as she back-handed a shot in with two minutes remaining. UH's Van Belkum then scored her second goal on a 4-meter penalty shot with 1:31 left to cap the scoring and give UH 10-6 win.

Hawai`i improved to 9-6 overall and 4-2 in the MPSF, while California fell to 11-7 and 3-4 in the MPSF.

The Rainbow Wahine continue their homestand Thursday against Pacific on a televised game by K5, and then battle No. 3 Long Beach State on Friday. Both games are at 4:30 p.m. at the Duke.

Scoring by Quarters


California	1	1	2	2	-	6


Hawai`i	1	3	2	4	-	10




Goals by Cal:  Gold (3), Windes (2), McGee. 

Cal Goalie Saves:   de Colombi (11).

Goals by Hawai`i:  Kruszona (3), Sieprath (2), Van Belkum (2) Novick, Harrer, Carroll. 

UH Goalie Saves:   De Nooy (8).