The Rainbow Wahine water polo team lost the lead, momentum and its starting goalkeeper in the third period.

Third-seeded Hawaii rallied behind its backup keeper and scored three goals in the final five minutes to beat No. 6 Long Beach State 7-5 in Friday’s first round of the Big West Championship at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex.

“It seems like it’s happened to us a few times where we’ve started OK and went down and they had the confidence to keep countering and keep going for it at the end,” Hawaii coach Maureen Cole said.

Hawaii (16-8) plays No. 2 Cal State Northridge (14-10) in Saturday’s 7:30 p.m. semifinal. CSUN beat Hawaii 7-6 on a buzzer-beater on March 6.

“The crowd tonight was amazing — that was the best crowed we’ve seen all year,” Cole said. “That really helped us in the fourth quarter, looking up and knowing we have all that support and it means a lot. We’re on our home turf, we want to defend it as best as we can.”

Hawaii’s Danika Kotylak scored with 5:02 remaining in the fourth period to tie the match at 5. Caity Lopes da Silva’s backhanded shot off Kotylak’s assist put Hawaii ahead 6-5 with 2:26 left. After Long Beach State failed to score, backup keeper Sarah Logan threw the ball deep across the pool. The Rainbow Wahine drew a foul and Paula Chillida Esforzado nailed the penalty shot for a 7-5 lead with 2:04 left. Chillida Esforzado led Hawaii with two goals.

“She was able to put in a sweet backhand to get us back into the game,” Cole said.

Long Beach State’s Rachel Cretcher’s shot went off the post with 1:36 left and Kayla Robert’s shot was wide with 40 seconds left. The Rainbow Wahine spread the pool on their final possession to eat up the 35-second shot clock.

Logan, who came in after starter Ymane Hage’s shoulder popped out in the third period, stopped a penalty shot by Christina Kostia early in the fourth period. Long Beach State coach Gavin Arroyo said Logan was the “X-factor.”

“The obvious was the penalty — we make it, we win the game,” Arroyo said. “Their backup goalie blocks it and that’s a big momentum shift.”

Hage’s shoulder popped out with 3:12 remaining after Kostia’s goal put the 49ers ahead 5-4. The 49ers outscored the Rainbow Wahine 4-2 to take the lead in the third. Kostia led the 49ers (16-14) with two goals.

“Being second goalie, I always have to be ready no matter what,” Logan said. “I’ve been in that situation before earlier in the season, so it’s always nerve-wracking. I just want to seize the opportunity and every second I get to play. I’m grateful and blessed to be in great competition.”

Kostia scored on a penalty shot in the third and Logan was ready for her the second time.

“I was debating it because her last penalty, she shot to the left,” Logan said. “I was going to guess she was probably going to the opposite side. In combination with adrenaline and everything, I went to the right. It’s amazing. It’s the equivalent to a goalie scoring a goal.”

Cole said her team will be ready in goal for the semifinal.

“If Ymane isn’t back, Sarah’s played a lot of games, we’ve had a lot of huge games with Sarah,” Cole said.

Fifth-seeded UC Davis held off fourth-seeded UC Santa Barbara 10-9 in a first-round match and will face top-seeded UC Irvine (18-7), the defending champion, in Saturday’s first semifinal at 5:45 p.m.