March 23, 2005

HONOLULU, HI - The No. 6-ranked Cal women's water polo team lost to No. 5 Hawaii, 10-6, in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match Wednesday afternoon at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatics Center in Honolulu. The Golden Bears were led by junior Allison Gold's three goals and junior goalie Alex Feune de Colombi's 11 saves, but were outscored 3-1 in the second period and 4-2 in the fourth quarter to lose their third MPSF contest in-a-row. Hawai`i improved to 9-6 overall and 4-2 in the MPSF, while Cal fell to 11-7 and 3-4 in the MPSF.

The Bears jumped out to an early 1-0 lead at the 5:26 mark in the first when they picked up a steal and scored on a 2-on-1 break away by Gold. UH's Audrey Harrer tied the scored when she picked up a carom off the cross bar and dumped it in at the 4:19 mark.

In the second quarter, Cal retook the lead on Gold's back-handed shot at the 6:20 mark. UH then took advantage of a power-play opportunity as Iefke Van Belkum found Beth Novick at the two-meter mark, who pivoted and fired past Bear goalie Alex Feune de Colombi to tie it at two apiece. UH took the lead for good with 49 seconds left as Monika Kruszona whipped in a shot in the lower left angle of the goal, then put the Rainbow Wahine up by two as she found the left corner again as the horn sounded.

UH kept the pressure on in the third quarter as Anna Sieprath skipped in a shot from on top at the six-meter area to make it 5-2. Kruszona added her third goal at the 2:14 mark as UH took advantage of a 2-on-1.

Cal cut the deficit to two as sophomore Elsie Windes scored at the one minute mark and Gold with 33 seconds left on back-to-back four-meter penalty shots.

In the fourth, Shannon Carroll gave UH a three-goal lead as she lobbed a shot from the left side. Sieprath squeezed in her second goal of the game with 4:46 left as UH went back up by four. The Rainbow Wahine went up by five as Van Belkum whistled in a four-meter penalty shot in the lower left side. Cal cut it to four as junior Lauren McGee picked up a blocked shot off the arm of UH goalie Meike De Nooy and tossed it in at 3:10. Windes made it 9-6 as she back-handed a shot in with two minutes remaining. UH's Van Belkum then scored her second goal on a four-meter penalty shot with 1:31 left to cap the scoring and give UH the 10-6 win.

Cal will next play Canada it two exhibition matches, at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m., Thursday at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Center.

Scoring 1	2	3	4	       Final
Cal	1	1	2	2	-	6
UH	1	3	2	4	-	10
Goals by Cal:  Gold (3), Windes (2), McGee.
Cal Goalie Saves:  de Colombi (11).
Goals by Hawai`i:  Kruszona (3), Sieprath (2),
Van Belkum (2) Novick, Harrer, Carroll.
UH Goalie Saves:  De Nooy (8).