Spartans again get best of UH waterpolo team
By Michael Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer
In what may have been their final match of the season, the University of Hawai'i water polo team battled furiously but futilely against forceful elements of nature and the elemental forces of San Jose State before eventually falling to the Spartans, 8-7, in overtime.
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A crowd of less than 100 braved blustery winds and threatening skies to watch host Hawai'i finish the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Women's Water Polo Championships in sixth place.
UCLA's Jenny Lamb looks to pass during the Bruins match against Stanford yesterday at the MPSF womenâs championships.
In the championship match, Stanford rolled to an 8-5 win over UCLA.
The Wahine (22-9) are scheduled to play in the National Collegiate Invitational next weekend at University of the Pacific, but UH head coach Shari Smart said the team may decide to cancel the trip.
"It's been really tough for the team this week," Smart said. "There have been a lot of distractions because of school and with finals coming up. I think there are a few players who wish the season were over right now."
As part of the fallout from the recently resolved UH professors strike, each of the Wahine players have classes that are being made up on weekends.
"I'm going to have to talk to the assistant coaches and then the team," Smart said. "We'll probably have a vote to see how they want to handle this."
UH has already accepted an invitation to the tournament and paid the entry fee. The team is scheduled to leave for the tournament Wednesday.
If yesterday's rough-and-tumble match was indeed the team's last, the Wahine's season ended on a disappointing and familiar note.
In their one previous meeting with SJSU on March 23, the Wahine led by a goal heading into the final minute. The Spartans tied the game then scored the deciding goal with 18 seconds left to win, 7-6.
Yesterday, with UH up one with 20 seconds left in the match, the Spartans' Teva West took advantage of a defensive lapse to send the game into overtime. SJSU shut down the Wahine in the extra periods and West added another goal with 1:15 left to seal the victory.
"(SJSU is) very physical and we knew that," Smart said. "We're equal to them in a lot of aspects of the game but it takes a toll when you're being handled a lot. It's also hard to go into overtime when you were up by two and let the other team crawl back in."
The Wahine gave up their two-goal advantage in the third, but freshman Chelsea Garner-Prohs' extra-man goal with 5:40 left in the fourth quarter gave UH a 7-6 lead early in the fourth.
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Hawai'i had another opportunity to score when Mandy Foster beat her defender down the pool to force a one-on-one situation with Spartan goalie Melanie Nichols. But Foster pulled up and her attempted pass to Christi Bardecki resulted in a turnover.
Stanford goalkeeper Jackie Frank blocks a UCLA shot.
With less than a minute to go, Joanne Ansell relayed a pass from Bardecki to Foster near the 2-meter line but the play was broken up before Foster could get a shot off.
On SJSU's ensuing possession, freshman Christine Welsh received the ball near the right post and, as two UH defenders converged, dished it to West on the weak side. West rocketed a shot past UH goalie Christa Tackaberry to tie the game.
"It wasn't intended to be a double team; it should have been man-to-man at that point," Smart said. "(West) was open for a split second, long enough to get a shot off — a nice hard shot in front of the cage."
Said Spartan head coach Lou Tully: "It was a reaction to what the defense did. Neva's a very good shooter. If someone drops off her, I expect her to shoot the ball."
The goal forced a pair of three-minute overtime periods. In the second, West stripped the ball from Bardecki and Jessamyn Grewal recovered it for SJSU. A major foul by Ansell gave the Spartans a 6-5 player advantage and West capitalized immediately, whipping a shot just inside the right post for the win.
"We knew this was going to be a tough game, and it was," Tully said. "I'm happy with the way we played, but I could have used a wider margin so my heart rate wouldn't go up so much."
The Wahine started the game with another wobbly first quarter. Plagued by inconsistent passing, Hawai'i didn't get their first shot attempt — a weak backhand attempt by Eko Lapp as the shot clock expired — until the team's seventh possession of the game.
"We were getting a feel for the match and the physicality of it," Smart said of the first quarter. "We made quite a few errant passes and it's in part because we were being pressured; and when you're being pressured its hard to make nice, easy passes."
Amy Morrow finally put Hawai'i on the board with a transition goal, tying the score, 1-1, with 42 seconds left in the first quarter.
The teams tied twice again in the second before Jennifer Hodge scored an extra-man goal to put UH ahead, 4-3, at the half.
Despite its difficulties, Hawai'i scored on four of six extra-man situations in the match.
Garner-Prohs led Hawai'i with two goals while Tackaberry recorded a career-high 15 saves.
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Other matches: Third place — Southern California def. California, 11-8. Seventh place — San Diego State def. UC Santa Barbara, 7-6. Ninth place — Long Beach State def. Pacific, 6-4.
