BERKELEY, Calif. — The second-seeded University of Hawai'i women's water polo team advanced to the semifinals of the Women's National Collegiate Water Polo Championship with an 11-6 victory over Princeton on Friday at the Spieker Aquatics Complex in Berkeley, Calif.
Jordan Wedderburn scored on all three of her shots to post her fifth hat trick of the season and Alba Bomanusa Boix sparked UH early with two goals and an assist in the first half.
Bernadette Doyle added two goals, assisted on two others and came up with two steals in the victory. Goalkeeper
Daisy Logtens came up with seven saves in three quarters and the UH defense posted 14 steals, led by
Lot Stertefeld's four.
"That first quarter I think we were a little unsettled and just jitterish, but as we got control of the game we did a good job defensively," UH coach
Maureen Cole said. "And I think that was the big difference, holding them to three goals (through three quarters). … Our defense really helped fuel our attack."
UH (23-3) earned its first win in the NCAA Championship since 2015 and reached the semifinals for the first time since 2013. The Rainbow Wahine will face host and third-seeded California on Saturday at 4 p.m. Pacific Time (1 p.m. Hawai'i Time). Cal defeated Fresno State 14-7 in the final quarterfinal match of the day to set up the third meeting between the Rainbow Wahine and Golden Bears this season. They split those meetings with UH picking up a 10-6 win on Feb. 24 in the Barbara Kalbus Invitational. Cal won the rematch 9-8 on March 10 in Berkeley and UH has reeled off 11 straight wins since.
No. 1 UCLA will face two-time defending champion Stanford in the first semifinal at 2 p.m. PT (11 a.m. HT). Saturday's winners will meet for the national championship on Sunday at 7 p.m. PT (4 p.m. HT). Both semifinal matches will be streamed on NCAA.com.
Princeton opened Friday's quarterfinal matchup by converting on a power play on the first possession of the game. Bonamusa Boix answered by firing in her first goal at the 6:01 mark of the first quarter to trigger a 5-0 UH run.
Stertefeld gave UH its first lead of the game with a goal from the top off an assist from Doyle.
Agatha Weston added another goal at the 1:12 mark and UH took a 3-1 lead into the second quarter. Bonamusa Boix added to the lead with her second goal then assisted on Wedderburn's first.
Princeton ended UH's run with a goal by Kayla Yelensky and the 'Bows responded with Wedderburn's second goal.
Bia Mantellato Dias pounded in a goal on a breakaway to push the lead to 7-2.
UH and Princeton traded goals on penalty shots in the third quarter before Doyle whipped in her second goal of the period to give UH a 9-3 lead. Wedderburn completed the hat trick with 2:12 left in the third period and
Roni Perlman extended UH's lead to 11-3 going into the fourth.
Princeton scored three goals in the last 2:13 of play to account for the final margin and the Tigers closed their season at 23-7 following their second loss to UH this season. The 'Bows defeated the Tigers in their home opener on Jan. 26.
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