TEMPE, Ariz. - The fourth-ranked University of Hawai`i women's water polo team opened the 2007 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championship in impressive fashion with a 22-8 drubbing of Pacific this morning at ASU's Mona Plummer Aquatic Center.
The Rainbow Wahine improved to 16-8 on the year while the Tigers fell to 5-24. UH advances to the quarterfinals Friday, April 27, at 3:20 p.m. PST (12:20 p.m. HST) against San Diego State who was a 13-11 winner over UC Santa Barbara.
UH took the opening sprint and scored on a 6-on-5 opportunity by Kelly Mason. UH counterattacked on a UOP missed shot with Lisa van Raalte lobbing it in from point-blank range. UOP pulled to within one converting a man-up as Kellie Fletcher found the back of the net at 5:31. UH then reeled off three unanswered goals from Angela Turnbull, van Raalte and Kristin Swanson to take a 5-1 lead at the end of the first quarter.Anna Sieprath pumped in her first goal at 6:39. UH then picked off a pass and van Raalte raced up the pool and riffled in her third goal. UOP's Sarah Harris skipped in a penalty shot to pull the Tigers to within six, 8-2. Turnbull went bar down on the Rainbow Wahine's next possession for the hat trick. Turnbull scored her fourth goal on a man-up to give UH a 10-2 advantage. Ryan Hanson-Swaner skipped in her first goal from the left side in transition. The Tigers' Harris notched her second goal with a 7-meter shot from out front. Emily Cox scored on a sweep shot and back hand on UH's next two possessions making it a 13-3 lead at the half.
Amy Logan's lob shot started the scoring for UH on its opening attack in the third. UOP's Fletcher picked up her second power-play goal to make it 14-4. Mason took advantage of a 6-on-5 chance, blistering in a shot off the left crossbar. UH then picked up a steal and sprinted up the pool with van Raalte lobbing in a shot from 2-meters. Cox whipped in a forehand from 2-meters, UOP's Fletcher went bardown for her third score to cut it to 18-5 to close out the third.
In the fourth, UOP's Fletcher scored on a roundhouse shot from 2-meters for the Tigers' first full-strength goal. Turnbull slammed in her fifth goal on a 6-on-5 chance, then Mason countered to bring it to 20-6. At this point, head coach Michel Roy pulled starting goalie Meike De Nooy and replaced her with Danielle Ingram. De Nooy made 11 saves on the day.
Turnbull led the UH scoring attack with five goals. van Raalte and Mason each added four while Cox contributed three and Swanson two goals.
The 22 goals scored by UH is a season-high and the most ever scored by the Rainbow Wahine in the MPSF Championship.
Match No. 24 - 10:00 a.m. PST
MPSF Championship - First Round
Tempe, Ariz. - Mona Plummer Aquatic Center
Scoring by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Final
Pacific 1 2 2 3 - 8
Hawai`i 5 8 5 4 - 22
UOP Goals: Kellie Fletcher (5), Sarah Harris (2), Virginia McConnell.
UOP Goalie Saves: Jocelyn Gray (2).
UH Goals: Angela Turnbull (5), Lisa van Raalte (4), Kelly Mason (4), Emily Cox (3), Kristin Swanson (2), Anna Sieprath, Ryan Hanson-Swaner, Amy Logan, Maxie Groh.
UH Goalie Saves: Meike De Nooy (11), Danielle Ingram (1).
-UH-
