IRVINE, Calif. - The No. 3 Stanford Cardinal defeated the No. 5 Hawai`i Rainbow Wahine, 6-3, in the title match of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Women's Water Polo Championship at Anteater Aquatics Complex.

The Rainbow Wahine played even with the Cardinal in the first quarter as the two teams traded a pair of goals. Hawai`i's Kristy Bagnall and Iefke Van Belkum scored for UH, while Stanford got opening period goals from Allison Gregorka and Katie Hansen.

The Cardinal went up 3-2 on Lauren Silver's goal, but UH's Kelly Mason erased the deficit at the 1:37 mark. SU's Christina Hewko put the Cardinal up for good with 41 seconds remaining just before half, 4-3.

Stanford's Silver scored her second goal, the only goal of the quarter, in a defensive battle in the third quarter as UH trailed 5-3 heading to the final seven minutes of regulation.

Nancy El-Sakkary gave the Cardinal a three-goal lead early in the fourth quarter and it held up to give Stanford the title, 6-3.

Hawai`i goalie Meike De Nooy made five saves for the Rainbow Wahine, while her counterpart Meridith McColl had seven stops, shutting out UH in the second half.

The Rainbow Wahine fall to 17-10 on the season and will see if they receive one of the three at-large berths to the NCAA Championship at UC Davis May 12-14. Stanford improved to 22-4.

	

MPSF Tournament - Championship 


 2:45 p.m. PST

Scoring by Quarters	1	2	3	4		Final

Hawai`i		2	1	0	0	-	3

Stanford		2	2	1	1	-	6



Goals by HAW:   Kristy Bagnall, Iefke Van Belkum, Kelly Mason.

HAW Goalie Saves:   Meike De Nooy (5).

Goals by STAN:   Lauren Silver (2), Allison Gregorka, Katie Hansen, Christina Hewko, Nancy El-Sakkary.

STAN Goalie Saves:   Meridith McColl (7).

Records:  Hawai`i (17-10), Stanford (22-4)

-UH-