March 28, 2009

HONOLULU, Hawaii - The No. 5 California women's water polo team lost a heartbreaking conference match to No. 4 Hawaii, 6-5. The Golden Bears fall to 27-4 overall and 2-3 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation while the Rainbow Wahine now stands at15-7, 2-4 in the MPSF. Cal shut out Hawaii in the second period but could not overcome a last-minute Hawaii goal.

"I'm very happy with our team defense," California head coach Richard Corso said. "We played well throughout the match. Even though the loss is painful, the student-athletes are excited for our next match in the MPSF with hopes of getting to the NCAA Championships."

Cal scored within the first minute of the game to take its first lead of the match. The Bears built a 3-2 lead in the first quarter and took it into the halftime break with neither team scoring in the second eight minutes of play.

The Rainbow Wahine tied the score, 3-3, at the beginning of the second half. California then quickly recovered its lead again, but with one minute to go in the third, Hawaii tied the game again.

With a goal in the third period, the Rainbow Wahine earned their first lead of the game but Paige Lorenz scored again for the Bears with 2:59 on the clock, tying the score for the fifth time in the match. With 14 seconds left in the game, senior Kelly Mason took a long shot and scored for the Rainbow Wahine, ending the match with a 6-5 victory for Hawaii.

Five different Golden Bears combined in the five-goal scoring effort.

Cal will next play No. 8 Arizona State on April 4.

Score by period	1	2	3	4	F
No. 5 Cal		3	0	1	1	5
No. 4 Hawaii		2	0	2	2	6

Hawaii goals: Carmen Eggens 2, Kelly Mason, Leonie Van Der Molen, Dagmar Genee, Saara Majuri
Cal goals: Remy Champion, Paige Lorenz, Meghan Corso, Stephanie Schnugg, Camille Hewko

Hawaii Saves: Serena Bredin 7
Cal saves: Stephanie Peckham 10