Wahine water polo advances to semis

Caity Lopes da Silva scored four goals and Monika Eggens added three as the University of Hawaii Rainbow Wahine water polo team defeated UC San Diego 13-6 in a quarterfinal match of the NCAA championships on Friday.

The tournament is being held on the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Mass.

The Wahine (22-9) will face top-seeded USC in today’s semifinals. The Trojans steamrolled over No. 8 Pomona-Pitzer 26-1.

"I think we did a great job defensively and we looked pretty fast, so I was really happy with how we countered for four quarters," UH coach Maureen Cole said of the victory over the No. 5 Tritons. "We looked ready to go. Nice job, girls."

The Wahine took a 2-1 lead after the first period and then added five goals in the second for a 7-2 halftime lead. They scored five more goals in the third period.

"(It) was a lot of fun," said Lopes da Silva, who tallied a career high in goals. "(We) started to get in a rhythm as the game went on and it felt really good."

Wahine goalkeeper Amy Carlson set the tone early by stuffing a UCSD penalty shot in the first quarter. The Wahine held the Tritons (25-14) to just three goals for the majority of the match, before surrendering three goals late.

Zoe Respondek and Amarens Genee added two goals apiece for the Wahine.

"We were really excited, nervous at the start of the game," Genee said. "Once we got over that, it felt good as a team. Everything is coming together right now."

It was UH’s ninth consecutive win.

In other quarterfinal matches, No. 3 UCLA defeated sixth-seeded Princeton 8-6, and No. 2 Stanford downed No. 7 Iona 20-3. The UCLA-Stanford semifinal will follow the UH-USC match.

"Defensively, we’re going to need to be better," Cole said. "USC has a few more weapons. Just gotta be quicker tomorrow. Our counterattack has gotta be just as strong, and offensively, a little more patient with the ball. If we force things tomorrow, there will be counter goals the other way. We just gotta make sure we’re taking the right shots."