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PALO ALTO, Calif. – The No. 5 University of Hawai'i women's water polo team (18-9)fell to No. 3 USC (23-5), Friday afternoon at the Avery Aquatic Center on the campus of Stanford University in the First Round of the NCAA Championships. UH is set to face Princeton, Saturday at Noon PT in hopes of advancing to the fifth-place match on Sunday.

Junior Paula Chillida Esforzado led the Rainbow Wahine with a hat trick, while Caity Lopes da Silva, Zoe Respondek, Emily Carr, and Chloe Barr added one apiece. Meanwhile, Brianna Daboub, Monica Vavic, and Brigitta Games each contributed a pair of goals towards the Trojans' 14. The Rainbow Wahine pulled off a late surge in the second half with five goals, but were unable to recover from USC's early lead.

The Trojans gained an early 2-0 advantage in the first quarter, with a goal by Ioanna Haralabidis immediately followed up with another off of the USC power-play by Jayde Appel. On UH's next possession, the Rainbow Wahine gained a power-play opportunity following a USC exclusion. After Gabi Mantellato Dias' first attempt was blocked, UH seized the rebound with Paula Chillida Esforzado scoring the Rainbow Wahine's first goal of the match, 2-1 with 4:48 on the clock. However, USC's Monica Vavic quickly answered back, igniting a 3-0 run for the Trojans' 5-1 lead at the end of the first.

The Rainbow Wahine fell back and trailed 7-1, as the Trojans scored two-straight goals in the middle of the second quarter. However, Caity Lopes da Silva found the net in the final minute of play for UH's second goal of the match.

Midway through the third quarter, following a USC corner throw, Zoe Respondek swam one in and scored to cut into the Trojans' lead, 7-3. However, after a Rainbow Wahine exclusion, USC's Avery Peterson scored in the next play to set UH back, 8-3. With a little over three minutes left in the third, Chillida Esforzado converted another power-play for the Rainbow Wahine. But with the final minutes winding down, USC pulled off a 3-0 run for a commanding 11-4 lead by the end of the third.

The Trojans stretched their run to 5-0 after scoring two-straight to open the final quarter but Emily Carr finally capped USC's advantage after finding the net with 4:04 on the clock. In UH's next possession, Chillida scored her third goal of the match to cut down USC's lead 13-6 but the Trojans quickly answered back. Barr followed up with a power-play conversion to bring UH back 14-7, but it wasn't enough to pull past the Trojans in the end.

UH will take on Princeton tomorrow afternoon at Noon PT at the Avery Aquatic Center for a chance to compete for fifth place on Sunday.

Scoring By Quarters
UH –      1              1              2              3              =             7
USC -     5              2              4              3              =             14
UH Scoring: Paula Chillida Esforzado 3, Caity Lopes da Silva 1, Zoe Respondek 1, Emily Carr 1, Chloe Barr 1
UH Saves: Sarah Logan 2