HONOLULU – In Friday's semifinal round of the Big West Conference Women's Water Polo Championship No. 12 UC San Diego (20-11) fell to 4th-ranked Hawaii (16-5) by a final score of 14-12.
Fifth-seeded UC San Diego finished its trip to Hawaii with a 1-1 record as the Tritons defeated fourth-seeded UC Davis, 12-11, in two overtime periods in Thursday's opening round. It was their first-ever win in Big West Championship action.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The top-seeded Rainbow Wahine got out to an early lead, scoring three consecutive goals to open the match, all within the first three minutes of the game. The Tritons responded with a pair of unanswered goals though, with
Annika Arroyo and
Courtney Okumura each finding the back of the net, picking up where they left off against UC Davis on Thursday. After two more goals for Hawaii,
Lucia Doak scored on a skip shot to cut the deficit to 5-3 with 22 seconds remaining in the first period.
In the second frame, UC San Diego again fell victim to a quick start from the hosts. Hawaii went on a 3-1 run through the first five minutes of the period before
Ciara Franke netted a penalty shot to cut the deficit to 8-5 for the Tritons with 2:39 remaining in the half. Hawaii tallied one more goal before the period ended to take a 9-5 lead into halftime.
The break did little to slow the Rainbow Wahine offense though, as Lucia Gomez de la Puente and Elyse Lemay-Lavoie each deposited goals to push the lead to 11-5. The Tritons responded as over the next three minutes
Kendall Thomas would chip in a pair of goals to bring the score to 12-7. After Hawaii took a 13-7 lead on another goal from Gomez de la Puente,
Taylor Onstott scored on a powerplay with 22 seconds remaining, holding the deficit to five at 13-8 heading into the final period of regulation.
The fourth stanza proved to be the best of the match for the Tritons, who outscored the Rainbow Wahine 4-1 in the final eight minutes of the match. Onstott picked up where she left off the period prior, scoring the first goal of the fourth on the power play to bring it to 13-9. Thomas dropped in her fourth goal of the day to move the score to 13-10 with 4:27 remaining. Doak scored next and Onstott followed with the final goal of a 5-0 run that extended back to the third period for UC San Diego. The Hawaii lead was down to a single goal at 13-12 with 27 ticks left on the clock. However, Gomez de la Puente struck again, scoring on an empty-net shot with 21 seconds left to put the game away for the Rainbow Wahine.
QUOTABLE
"This was a team that never quit, and we've been down 3-0 to multiple teams this year and come back and won, and there we were again, against the best team in the conference down 3-0," said UC San Diego head coach
Brad Kreutzkamp, "And I knew deep down we would never quit, and that's such an awesome thing to be able to coach a team that gives you all their effort every day."
TRITON TIDBITS
- FOUR MORE FOR THE FRESHMAN – Freshman Kendall Thomas had her seventh game this season with three or more goals against Hawai'i, finishing with four goals in the match. The four goals Friday represented her first playoff goals in her collegiate career.
- TIP OF THE CAP FOR ONSTOTT – Taylor Onstott recorded her third hat trick of the season, with all three three-goal performances coming against Big West opponents this season (UC Santa Barbara on Feb. 27, UC Irvine on April 16, and Hawaii on April 22).
- RECORD-SETTING SEASONS – Bennett Bugelli recorded four more saves against Hawaii, bringing her career total up to 819 career saves. In the win over UCSB at the Kalbus Invitational, Bugelli moved up to third all-time, passing Maryam Hadiashar, 697 saves, and Leona Mason, 701 saves. This season, she moved up from ninth place after making 25 saves at the UCSB Winter Invite. Next on the list is Jefi Paulsen with 852 saves.
| Goalie Saves |
Player |
Years Played |
| 1,465 saves |
Courtney Miller |
2013-2016 |
| 852 saves |
Jefi Paulsen |
1987-1990 |
| 819 saves |
Bennett Bugelli |
2017- Present |
| 701 saves |
Leona Mason |
1993-1996 |
| 697 saves |
Maryam Hadiashar |
1997-2000 |
Ciara Franke netted one goal in the loss, giving her 207 for her career. She is sixth all-time in UC San Diego history. She cemented herself as the 10th all-time goal scorer in UC San Diego history against Loyola Marymount, scoring four goals, including three penalty shots, in the win. This season, Franke has netted 53 goals, despite missing six matches.
| Goals |
Player |
Years Played |
| 321 goals |
Sarah Lizotte |
2011-2014 |
| 297 goals |
Alexis Wieseler |
2013-2017 |
| 245 goals |
Julie Swail |
1992-1995 |
| 218 goals |
Jamie Dailey |
1989-1992 |
| 210 goals |
Emma Kudrutzki |
1999-2002 |
| 207 goals |
Ciara Franke |
2018 - Present |
| 205 goals |
Julia Kirkland |
2013-2016 |
- FINAL THOUGHTS – "Those girls who were my seniors freshman year are still some of my best friends and now our freshman, I feel like I'm really close with them, so it's been really cool to have that group of girls all five years in both [swimming and water polo] to grow with," said Ciara Franke after the match.
UP NEXT
Big West Conference awards will be announced on April 26.
About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program has begun a new era as a member of the Big West Conference in NCAA Division I. The 23-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 83 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 37 have garnered prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 91 percent, one of the highest rates among institutions at all divisions. For more information on the Tritons, visit UCSDtritons.com or follow UC San Diego Athletics on social media @UCSDtritons.
