Box Score

LONG BEACH, Calif. – The No. 3 seed University of Hawai'i women's water polo team fell short of defending its Big West Tournament title with a 6-5 loss to Cal State Northridge Saturday afternoon at the Long Beach State Campus Pool. The Rainbow Wahine dropped to 18-10 overall and saw their five-match win streak come to an end.
 
The Matadors (23-8), who als  defeated UH by a one-goal margin earlier this year, advance to Sunday's tournament finals where they will face regular-season champion and top seed UC Irvine.
 
For the second straight tournament match UH found itself in a tight contest. Hawai'i never led and fell behind by two goals on a number of occasions, yet still had an opportunity to win the game. UH goalie Amy Carlson prevented a CSUN penalty shot in the third quarter and the Rainbow Wahine and Matadors were tied, 4-4, going into the final quarter.
 
However, the Matadors were able to find the back of the net twice to go up up 6-4. Mirella Coutinho scored her second goal of the match for UH with 2:01 remaining to bring the 'Bows within one goal and UH had one last chance to tie the match with less than 30 seconds remaining, but were unable to capitalize.
 
The Rainbow Wahine will battle for third place in the tournament against No. 4 seed and host Long Beach State on Sunday  at 12:15 PT (9:15 HT).
 
 
CSUN 6, Hawai'i 5
April 26, 2013 at Long Beach State
Long Beach, Calif.
Scoring By Period
UH                  0         3          1          1          =          5
CSUN             1          3          0          2          =          6
 
CSUN Scoring: Lindsy Duncan (2), Kelcie Ferreira (1), Molly Henehan (1), Katie Krammer (1), Jenny Jamison (1)
UH Scoring: Emily Carr (2), Mirella Coutinho (2), Paula Chillida Esforzado (1)
Saves: CSUN- Kieman Davis (9); UH - Amy Carlson (5)