The Hawaii women’s water polo team completed its first mission Friday at the NCAA Championship in Berkeley, Calif.
The next one will be against the host school in what Rainbow Wahine coach Maureen Cole expects to be a hostile environment.
Jordan Wedderburn scored a hat trick on three shot attempts, and Bernadette Doyle and Alba Bonamusa Boix each added two goals as No. 2 seed Hawaii beat Princeton 11-6 in a quarterfinal game to extend Cole’s career.
“We believed we could press,” Cole said. “We controlled their center, although they got some good looks and some 6-on-5s early. We wanted to make it difficult for them to move the ball and our team did a good job of pressing and making it difficult for them to get the ball to the center position. We controlled their counterattack as well.”
Cole, in her 13th season leading the Rainbow Wahine, announced her retirement in November. She previously served as a UH assistant for five seasons.
“Obviously, we want to keep her around as long as possible,” Hawaii goalie Daisy Logtens said.
Hawaii, the Big West champion, will face No. 3 California in today’s semifinals at 1 p.m. Cal defeated Fresno State 14-7 in Friday’s last quarterfinal.
On Feb. 24, Hawaii beat California 10-7 at the Barbara Kalbus Invitational in Irvine, Calif.
The host Golden Bears got the better of the Rainbow Wahine with a 9-8 victory March 10.
“Cal, this pool deck, is probably the most challenging of any pool to play at,” Cole said. “It will definitely be a hostile environment. We’ll look forward to that.”
No. 1 seed UCLA and No. 4 Stanford will meet in the other semifinal today at 11 a.m.
The final will be Sunday at 4 p.m.
Against Princeton, Logtens made seven saves for Hawaii, which allowed only three goals over the first 30 minutes.
The Rainbow Wahine (23-3) had 14 steals, including four by Lot Stertefeld.
“We came out with good energy today,” Logtens said. “We knew if we came out with good energy, pressed hard, we could make it hard on them, and that’s what we did today.”
The Tigers scored on the first possession of the game on Meera Burghardt’s power-play goal.
The Rainbow Wahine took control the remainder of the first quarter with goals by Bonamusa Boix (6:01), Stertefeld (4:06) and Agatha Weston (1:12) to take a 3-1 lead.
Hawaii had two shots go off the post in the first three minutes of the second quarter before finding its rhythm.
Bonamusa Boix scored at 4:31 — her 50th career goal — and Wedderburn scored a power-play goal at 3:29 to put the Rainbow Wahine ahead 5-1.
Princeton, the Collegiate Water Polo Association champion, got within three on Kayla Yelensky’s power-play goal at 2:55.
Wedderburn scored a power-play goal at 1:21 and Bia Mantellato Dias’ breakaway goal at 1:04 put the Rainbow Wahine ahead 7-2 at halftime.
“It’s the people around you that give you those opportunities,” Wedderburn said. “Today, I scored two of the goals on 6-on-5. It wasn’t necessarily like just me. It was the process before that.”
Doyle put Hawaii ahead 8-2 by converting a penalty shot at 7:05 of the third. Mantellato Dias drew the foul just in front of the cage.
Yelensky got the Tigers (23-7) within 8-3 by converting a penalty shot at 5:19.
The Rainbow Wahine controlled the rest of the period with goals by Doyle (4:53), Wedderburn (2:12) and Roni Perlman (0:41) to extend the lead to 11-3.
It was Wedderburn’s fifth hat trick of the season.
“Jordan finished the ball incredibly today. Obviously, when people are shooting the ball like that, it makes the day a lot easier,” Cole said.
Numerous Hawaii reserves played the fourth quarter as the team went into clock-killing mode.
The Tigers’ Olivia Krotts (2:13) and Kaila Carroll (1:33, 0:36) scored in the final quarter.
On Jan. 26, Hawaii defeated Princeton 10-6 in the Rainbow Wahine’s home opener at Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex.
In Friday’s other semifinals, UCLA defeated Wagner 17-7 and Stanford beat USC 8-3.
