Scoresheet (pdf)

SANTA BARBARA – The defending Big West Champion No. 8 University of Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine water polo team (20-7) defeated the top-seeded No. 11 Long Beach State 49ers (17-11) on Saturday afternoon at UCSB's Campus Pool in Santa Barbara, Calif., 6-4. Moving into their second-straight conference final, the 'Bows now have a chance to claim the title in consecutive years, and their third since joining the conference.
 
The Rainbow Wahine were once again led by freshman Irene Gonzalez, whose second-half scoring proved crucial as she tallied three goals in the victory, while sophomore goalie Ymane Hage recorded a game-high 12 saves in the cage.
 
The Rainbow Wahine and the 49ers locked into a defensive struggle for the much of the first half, the first goal of the match coming at the 1:37 mark of the second quarter from LBSU's Emily Garczynski. However, Rainbow Wahine freshman Femke Aan countered on the very next possession to tie the score at 1-1 going into halftime.
 
The offense quickly ramped up and Hawai'i came out firing to start the second half, opening the third on a 3-0 run. Freshmen Carla Abellan and Gonzalez netted their first goals of the afternoon, while junior Danika Kotylak capped off the run, pushing UH ahead, 4-1. However, the 49ers bounced back with consecutive goals from Virginia Smith and Tori Morrissey to slice the advantage to a single goal into the final period.
 
Once again, the squads found themselves in a defensive battle, as LBSU's Jessica Brooks drew the contest even tighter, knotting the score at four-all.
 
The gridlock wouldn't last long, with a championship game appearance on the line. With just under two minutes left to play, Gonzalez broke the tie to give UH a 5-4 lead. Less than a minute later, she fired off another, her third of the afternoon, to ensure the Rainbow Wahine victory with a final score of 6-4.
 
Hawai'i moved unscathed through the winners bracket and returns to action at the Campus Pool on Sunday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. PT (11:00 a.m. HT) in its second consecutive conference final appearance. The 'Bows face UC Santa Barbara in the Gauchos' home pool in the final, after the UCSB defeated UC Irvine 7-6 on Saturday. In these teams' last meeting, UCSB came away with the 7-5 win.
 
Saturday, April 30
Campus Pool (Santa Barbara, Calif.)
 
Scoring by Quarters:
Hawai'i –     0      1    3    2   =   6
LBSU –        0      1    2    1   =   4
Hawai'i Scoring: Irene Gonzalez 3, Femke Aan 1, Carla Abellan 1, Danika Kotylak 1
LBSU Scoring: Emily Garczynski 1, Virginia Smith 1, Tori Morrissey 1, Jessica Brooks 1