COLLEGE PARK, MD – The University of Hawai`i women's water polo team finished in fourth place at the 2009 NCAA Championship after losing to Stanford, 14-11, in the final match of the season Sunday night at the Eppley Recreation Center in College Park, MD.
UH ends the season in fourth for the third time in program history. The No. 4 Rainbow Wahine finished 19-10 on the season.
The Rainbow Wahine opened the championship with a victory over No. 5 Loyola Marymount, but finished with losses to No. 1 USC and No. 2 Stanford.
“Overall it was a great season. Anytime you make it to the NCAA Championship you have to be proud of the team,” Head Coach
Michel Roy said. “We kept up with Stanford tonight. They are a good team. We played hard and had a chance.”
In the first quarter, the Rainbow Wahine and Cardinal went back-and-forth, scoring three goals in the first minute of the match.
Lisa van Raalte scored UH's first goal, then
Carmen Eggens scored two midway through, as Stanford led 4-3 after one.
UH scored two more goals in the second quarter, but gave up three to trail 7-5 at halftime.
Saara Majuri scored her first goal of the match and van Raalte added her second for the Rainbow Wahine.
The Rainbow Wahine started strong in the third quarter, cutting the lead to 8-7 after goals by Majuri and van Raalte. But Stanford answered with four straight goals to give them a 12-7 lead.
Kelly Mason stopped the scoring run with her first goal of the match with just over a minute left in the quarter.
In the fourth quarter,
Leonie Van Der Molen scored her first goal and Majuri added her second goal, but Stanford scored two goals as well to keep the four-goal lead with two minutes left in the match. Majuri added her fourth goal of the match down the stretch as the final ended 14-11.
HAWAI`I 3 2 3 3 - 11
STANFORD 4 3 5 2 - 14
Goals
STANFORD – Lauren Silver (8), Jessica Steffens, Kim Krueger, Kelly Eaton, Kelsey Holshouser, Kira Hillman, Alex Koran,
Saves
STANFORD – Amber Oland (6)
-UH-
