Wahine defeat Anteaters in Big West title match

Caity Lopes da Silva held the ball for nearly 10 anxiety-building seconds, searching for an opening.

When she found it, the Hawaii senior released her final shot in Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex and delivered a championship for the Rainbow Wahine.

Lopes da Silva’s goal into the upper left corner of the net with 10 seconds left in overtime gave the Rainbow Wahine a 9-8 win over UC Irvine in the championship game of the Big West women’s water polo tournament on Sunday in their home pool.

"It’s surreal, my heart still going so fast," Lopes da Silva said after celebrations in the water and on the pool deck following a title match that saw the lead and momentum take dramatic swings throughout the second half and into overtime.

"It is emotional and it means so much to me and it means so much to my team. It’s been a long process, and to finish out being Big West champions in your senior year it means everything. I feel so privileged to be part of this team and part of this win."

Lopes da Silva was named the tournament MVP after scoring three goals in the final. She scored her second on a skip shot with 38 seconds left in regulation to force overtime, and her third gave UH its second Big West championship in the last three years and the conference’s automatic berth in the NCAA tournament.

"The Big West is a great conference — to stand on top at the end of the season amongst such great competition it’s really special," UH coach Maureen Cole said.

UC Irvine had won five of the previous six Big West titles, the exception coming in 2013, when UH pulled out a 5-4 overtime win in Irvine, Calif. The Anteaters won the next four meetings in the series, including two one-goal victories this season.

The third meeting of the season tipped in UH’s favor after UH built a 3-0 lead, then saw UCI come back to move ahead early in the fourth before the Wahine came though with tying goals twice in the final 1:37 of regulation.

"The last two times we played really well and we just didn’t put the goals away," said UH junior Claire Nixon, who scored two goals, "whereas this time we did and we made it when it counts."

UH junior Gabi Mantellato Dias also scored three goals, two in UH’s first-quarter surge, and the Wahine led 4-1 at halftime.

UH goalie Sarah Logan came up with four saves in the first quarter, but UC Irvine responded with three unanswered goals in the third to catch UH. The teams traded goals in the fourth and Emily Carlson’s second goal gave UCI a 7-6 lead with 1:07 left in regulation. Cole called timeout and Lopes da Silva sent the match into overtime.

"People were calling out for me to move in and take the shot and I did what I think I needed to do," she said.

Nixon scored the first goal in the first of two three-minute overtime periods, but Mary Brooks scored on a power play with one second left to close the period at 8-8.

Lopes da Silva scored the lone goal of the second overtime period and UCI’s desperation shot at the buzzer went high to trigger UH’s celebration.

Cole was confident UH and UCI would receive NCAA tournament bids regardless of the outcome of Sunday’s match. But the Wahine survived a third high-tension match in as many nights to secure the automatic berth.

"There’s those teams where you look in their eyes and you can see that they’re doubting themselves. I never saw that in any person’s eyes the entire game," Cole said. "I think the belief was just there, and when you have that it’s dangerous and I think we were dangerous tonight."

The NCAA tournament is set for May 8-10 at Stanford, Calif.