SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The fourth-ranked University of Hawai`i women's water polo team defeated No. 12 UC Santa Barbara, 7-6, today in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match at Campus Pool.

It was a defensive contest with the Rainbow Wahine outscoring the Gauchos 4-1 at halftime and survived a three-goal fourth by UCSB to run its record to 12-8 overall and 8-3 in the MPSF. The Gauchos fall to 13-15 and 2-6 in league play.

The teams kicked off the first three minutes of play with no goals but four saves by the goalies -- UCSB junior goalie Jenny Gonzales and Hawai`i keeper Meike De Nooy. The Rainbow Wahine were the first on the board with a lob shot from Kelly Mason three minutes into the first quarter.

Great defense kept the score at 1-0 in favor of Hawai`i for the following five minutes. With 18.5 seconds remaining in the first period, Mason scored her second goal from seven meters out to give UH a 2-0 lead after one.

Solid defense was the name of the game at the beginning of the second stanza as neither team scored until two minutes had elapsed. The Gauchos scored their first goal when Taylor Byrne scored.

UH's Mason scored her third consecutive goal with 3:22 remaining in the first half with a shot that went over the head of Gonzales. Brittany Dames followed suit with a goal after drawing Gonzales out of the cage to bring the score to 4-1 at the end of two periods.

UCSB won the sprint following intermission and scored the first goal of the second half with a shot from Sarah Kovach, cutting the deficit to two, 4-2. Kovach came through again for the Gauchos 40 seconds later with a skip shot to pull to within one, 4-3.

UH's Angela Turnbull took a straight shot on Gonzales and scored to return the Rainbow Wahine's lead to two, 5-3. Amy Logan scored with four minutes to go in the third period with a floater to give UH a three-goal cushion, 6-3.

Two minutes into the fourth quarter, Hawai`i took advantage of a fast break, allowing Lisa van Raalte to zero in on the back of the net giving UH a 7-3 advantage. Two minutes later, the Gauchos had their third second-chance shot go in to cut the lead to three, 7-4, with four minutes left in the game.

UCSB's Aimee Stachowski scored her first goal of the game with 1:48 left in regulation with a skip shot on a fast break. The Gauchos' Gillian Morgan quickly caught and shot a pass with 1:03 left to cap the scoring, 7-6.

The goalies controlled much of the game with De Nooy stopping 15 UCSB shots while UCSB's Gonzales notched 11 saves.

Hawai`i travels to Cal State Northridge April 12 (3:00 p.m. PST) for its final MPSF regular season match. The Rainbow Wahine close out the regular season with a doubleheader at Cal Baptist April 14 against both the Lancers and Hartwick.

	

Match No. 20 - 4:00 p.m. PST

Scoring by Quarters	1	2	3	4		Final

Hawai`i		2	2	2	1	-	7

UC Santa Barbara	0	1	2	3	-	6



UCSB Goals:  Sarah Kovach (2), Gillian Morgan (2), Taylor Byrne, Aimee Stachowski.

UCSB Goalie Saves:  Jenny Gonzales (11)

UH Goals:  Kelly Mason (3), Brittany Dames, Amy Logan, Angela Turnbull, Lisa van Raalte.

UH Goalie Saves:   Meike De Nooy (15).

-UH-