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Hawaii’s comeback victory on Sunday earned the Rainbow Wahine water polo team a return to the NCAA championship.
Trailing UC Irvine 5-2 early in the third quarter of the Big West tournament final, the Rainbow Wahine stormed back to catch the Anteaters and junior Lalelei Mata’afa’s goal with 2:56 left sent UH to a 9-8 victory at Canyonview Aquatic Center in San Diego, Calif., and the program’s second straight conference title.
After Mata’afa scored on backhand shot off an assist from Libby Gault, Carmen Baringo had two steals to help protect the lead. UH goalie Molly DiLalla and Emma van Rossum combined on a final stop with seven seconds left to seal UH’s fourth Big West tournament championship.
“It honestly brought tears to my eyes in the pregame speech,” UH coach Maureen Cole said in a phone interview. “This group has been the true meaning of our
culture.
“No matter what happened in this game, the entire season has been just a pleasure to be around this group of young women. For them to be able to come back against a really great team and battle back three goals down, the energy was unbelievable.”
UH (10-1) paired the tournament title with the Big West regular-season crown and earned the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament set for May 14-16 in Los Angeles. The field for the tournament hosted by UCLA will be announced today.
UH freshman Lucia Gomez de la Puente scored three goals and assisted on two more. Gault and Olivia Kistler added two goals each and van Rossum had one. Kistler’s second goal knotted the score at 8-8 with 6:41 left and Mata’afa scored on her lone shot attempt of the match, redirecting a pass from Gault into the right corner of the goal.
“It was a great pass, great composure and great finish,” Cole said.
“(Mata’afa) is a Rainbow Wahine through and through,” Cole said of the Lahainaluna graduate. “She has overcome adversity, she has never complained. She has great energy and she’s super clutch. In one of the biggest moments in her
athletic career, (it’s) just
the icing on the cake for it to be her to score that go-ahead goal.”
Baringo’s second and third steals of the day helped UH fend off the Anteaters, who took a timeout with 35 seconds left. Cole unveiled a defensive alignment she hadn’t used before, “packing the cage” with Baringo and van Rossum flanking DiLalla in goal. DiLalla deflected a shot by UCI’s Morgan Jones, but the ball snuck through. But van Rossum pounced in time to keep it off the goal line with seven seconds left and UH finished off its fifth win over UC Irvine (12-7) this season.
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