May 2, 2010

Los Angeles, Calif. - The No. 4 seed Hawaii women's water polo team (18-8) took a 7-3 lead after three quarters and held on for a 7-6 victory over seventh-seeded San Diego State (21-15) in the fifth-place match of the 2010 MPSF Women's Water Polo Championship at Spieker Aquatics Center on the campus of UCLA on Sunday (May 2) afternoon.

Amber Pezzolla got the Aztecs on the board first with a power play goal at the 5:42 mark, her 54th of the season. Leanne Ford gave SDSU a two-goal lead with 4:26 left when she fired a shot (her 43rd goal of the season) to the top right corner past Hawaii goalie Serena Bredin. Saara Majuri scored her 20th goal of the year, cutting the lead to 2-1 with a lob shot over SDSU keeper Kelly Campoli with 2:43 left in the first. Amarens Genee tied the match at 2-2 with her 30th goal of the year from the left side that skipped to the right post with 0:52 seconds left. Then each team scored a goal in the last five seconds of the first period. Melissa de Jonckheere (36th goal of the year) gave the Aztecs a 3-2 lead with five seconds left on a 6-on-5 opportunity. Monika Eggens (59th of the season) tied it at 3-3 with two seconds left with a long shot from center to end the first period scoring.

Then Hawaii added two goals in the second period while holding SDSU scoreless. Eggens scored her second of the day on a 6-on-5 opportunity to put UH up 4-3 with 7:10 left in the second. Carmen Eggens scored her 39th goal of the year with 1:33 left in the period to give Hawaii a 5-3 lead at halftime. Bredin and Campoli both picked up six saves in the first half.

Carmen Eggens added her second goal of the day when she got the ball in the middle and turned and fired past Campoli in the right corner with 6:19 left to double-up SDSU 6-3. Then Carmen Eggens completed her hat trick with a goal with 2:14 left to give the Rainbow Wahine a 7-3 lead.

Sarah Brady snapped Hawaii's five-goal run when she snuck a low skipper past Bredin near the left post, scoring her 36th goal of the year with 6:59 left in the fourth period. The Aztecs cut the lead to 7-5 when de Jonckheere scored her second goal of the day with 55 seconds left in the match. Then the Aztecs scored their third straight goal when Meaghan Poland (40th goal of the year) caught the ball in the middle and fired a low shot in the left corner to end the scoring at 7-6 in favor of Hawaii.

Bredin finished with 10 saves in the cage for Hawaii while Campoli recorded seven for San Diego State. The Aztecs won all four sprints with Pezzolla winning the first three and de Jonckheere winning the final sprint.

No. 7 San Diego State vs. No. 4 Hawaii (MPSF 5th-Place Match)

SDSU Goals: Melissa de Jonckheere 2, Sarah Brady, Meaghan Poland, Amber Pezzolla, Leanne Ford
SDSU Saves: Kelly Campoli 7

Hawaii Goals: Carmen Eggens 3, Monika Eggens 2, Amarens Genee, Saara Majuri
Hawaii Saves: Serena Bredin 10