Jackie Frank's priority last August was stopping shots in goal for the U.S. women's water polo team during the Athens Olympics.

On May 18, her priority changed with the birth of son Tomas.

Frank, 25, recently returned to the pool for the first time since giving birth, and yesterday helped Hawaiian Islands edge Australia, 6-5, in the women's open final of the Hawaiian Invitational Water Polo Tournament.

"I haven't quite gotten back in shape yet so I'm a little sore right now," said Frank, who added she felt discomfort in her legs and elbows after the match. "I haven't had time to work out very much with the baby."

When asked if she planned to take a shot at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, she said: "I hope so, we'll see.

"I put my life on hold for a long time for water polo and it's time to move on and do something different. I wasn't sure if I was going to come back, but now I'm thinking of doing that."

Frank's husband, Ivan, and Tomas were on hand for the final day of the six-day tournament at the University of Hawai'i's Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex.

"We recruited her out of being a mom and to come out here," said Hawaiian Islands coach Ken Smith, who also coaches the Punahou boys and girls programs. "She is friends with some of our other girls that play at UCLA, so she came over to play for us."

Gabby Dominick scored four goals yesterday for Hawaiian Islands, which scored its first three goals on power plays and final three at full strength.

Hawaiian Islands took its largest lead at 6-4 on a goal by Dominick with 4:07 left, but Libby Magann scored for Australia 20 seconds later.

Australia had possession with 20 seconds remaining, but couldn't get off a shot.

"We had some opportunities, we just didn't convert them," Australia coach Kyle Jones said. "We got beaten by them 7-1 the other day, so 6-5 is a better result."

Jones added he had no 2004 Olympians on his roster and his players were from "regional centers throughout Australia, outside major cities."

Frank and Margie Dingeldein, both Stanford alums, were 2004 U.S. Olympians on the Hawaiian Islands' roster.

Hawaiian Islands started the tournament with 10 players, according to Smith, but two starters returned to the Mainland prior to yesterday's match.

"We won it last year and it's nice to defend it," Smith said. "We had a couple of players that had to leave so we were kind of short-handed."

The U.S. women's team won the bronze medal at Athens and Frank said it was a good experience for some of the local players on the Hawaiian Islands' roster to play with national team-level players.

Seven players on the roster were from Hawai'i.

"It was a nice team, we had a lot of good players and I think it was a good experience for the Punahou players because they got to play with some of us," Frank said.