DAVIS, Calif. - Hawai`i's Anna Sieprath netted five goals as the No. 4 Rainbow Wahine knocked off host UC Davis, 12-7, this evening in the quarterfinals of the 2006 NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship at UC Davis' Schaal Aquatics Center.

UC Davis (20-12) got on the scoreboard first taking advantage of a 6-on-5 opportunity as Aggie Katherine O'Rourke scored at the 4:52 mark. But the Rainbow Wahine countered to tie the score at one when Sieprath ripped in a shot from the right side. UH took a 2-1 lead as Iefke Van Belkum skipped in an uncontested shot from the middle at 3:28. UCD tied the score at the end of the first quarter on Sofia Patronas' shot from the 4-meter area.

The second period was equally topsy-turvy. The Aggies went up 3-2 at the 4:14 mark in the second as Casie Mota's shot made its way through the upper left of the cage. UH's Sieprath scored her second goal rifling a shot cross corner through the upper left at 1:45. Sieprath then recorded a hat-trick at the 1:02 mark, but the lead was short-lived as UCD's Cassie Schaefer tied it with 42 seconds left in the half as the two teams went tied into the locker room at four apiece.

Van Belkum opened the third winning her third-straight sprint. UH drew an early ejection and Kristy Bagnall pumped in her first score at 6:19 to give UH a quick start in the second half. However, UCD countered as UH couldn't convert on an errant shot with the Aggie's Schaefer tying the game at five. UH's Sieprath ripped in her fourth goal on the following possession to recapture the lead, 6-5, at 4:54. But the Aggies tied at six at 1:40 on a 4-meter penalty shot by Christi Raycraft. The Aggies took the lead 7-6 on Schaefer's third goal with 59 seconds left. But UH's Sieprath took advantage of a 6-on-5 squirting through a shot in the upper right of the net to knot it at seven at the end of three.

Hawai`i (18-10) took an 8-7 lead on Kelly Mason's first goal at the 5:53 mark. Mason notched her second goal at the 4:44 mark to give UH its biggest lead, 9-7. Goalie Meike De Nooy hit Van Belkum on a break away as the sophomore rattled one through to give UH a three-goal advantage, 10-7. Mason scored her third goal at 2:40 to give UH an 11-7 lead. UCD's Raycroft 4-meter penalty shot was rejected by UH goalie De Nooy to preserve the four-goal lead. Van Belkum skipped one through the right side at 1:34 to cap the scorings and give UH a 12-7- victory.

The game featured seven lead changes in the first three quarters with no team leading by more than one goal.

Earlier matches today saw the No. 1 seed USC Trojans smash Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 27-2. The winner of the our match takes on USC Saturday at 6:00 p.m. PST (3:00 HST) in one semifinal. Also today, No. 2 Stanford pounded Marist, 17-2, while No. 3 UCLA trounced Hartwick, 15-2. Stanford and UCLA are the other semifinal match at 3:00 p.m. PST.

Hawai`i takes on top seed USC in the 6:00 p.m. match, while UC Davis battles Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in the consolation bracket at 3:00 p.m. Other Saturday matches pits No. 2 Stanford versus No. 3 UCLA in the 7:30 p.m. match with Marist taking on Hartwick at 4:30 p.m.

	

NCAA Championship - Quarterfinal


 7:30 p.m. PST

Scoring by Quarters	1	2	3	4		Final

UC Davis		2	2	3	0	-	7

Hawai`i		2	2	3	5	-	12



Goals by HAW:   Anna Sieprath (5), Iefke Van Belkum (3), Kelly Mason (3), Kristy Bagnall.

HAW Goalie Saves:   Meike De Nooy (N/A).

Goals by UCD:    Cassie Schaefer (3), Casie Mota, Christi Raycraft, Sofia Patronas, Katherine O'Rourke.

UCD Goalie Saves:   N/A

Records:  Hawai`i (18-10), UC Davis (20-12)

-UH-