Fourth-ranked Hawai'i salvaged a game and maybe a water polo season yesterday, scoring with 11 seconds remaining in overtime to beat seventh-ranked San Diego State, 10-9, in the consolation bracket of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championship. The tournament is being played at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatics Complex.

The Rainbow Wahine (17-8), seeded sixth, took a 7-4 lead into the fourth quarter but lost it all when an offense designed to burn time backfired.

"We tried to control the game, tried to slow it down," UH coach Michel Roy said. "They made a couple eight- or nine-meter shots — 'dingers' off the post and in."

The Aztecs (22-12) closed to 7-6 on two quick goals by Ronni Gautschi, who had a game-high four. Leonie Van Der Molen's second goal put UH up 8-6 with 5:38 remaining.

The 'Bows would go scoreless the rest of regulation while Erinn Greenwood got her third goal at 4:19 to cut the Aztecs' deficit to one. Anna Gonzales, the MPSF's leading scorer, got her first goal of the game with six seconds left to force overtime — two three-minute periods.

"We stopped focusing, we got tired ...," Roy said. "We lost a little discipline, forgot what brought us here."

Both teams were scoreless in the first OT period, with Hawai'i missing the only shot that was taken. Gautschi put SDSU ahead 9-8 just 30 seconds into the final OT period. Senior All-American Kelly Mason fed Samantha Motekaitis inside for the tying goal a little more than a minute later, on a power play.

After the Aztecs missed, Saara Majuri fired the ball off the top post and in with 11 seconds — the "dinger" that won it for the 'Bows. The score stood up when Jenna Schuster's shot hit the post and stayed out.

"Maybe it was our turn," Roy said with an exhausted grin.

Hawai'i will face fifth-seeded San Jose State in the fifth-place match today at 1:30 p.m. UH is probably playing for its postseason life today. A loss yesterday would have been "the end," Roy said.

He believes his team, which has wins over Cal and UCLA, should get one of the three at-large bids to the eight-team NCAA Tournament if it beats SJSU. He was surprised two years ago, when UH beat San Diego State twice but the Aztecs received the at-large bid. The criteria has since changed.