California State University Northridge Athletics
California State University at Northridge
#6 Hawai''i
Matadors Fall 6-5 to Hawai'i in Big West Conference Semifinals
4/26/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Water Polo
HONOLULU-
A goal with five minutes to play proved to be the difference in No. 10 CSUN Water Polo's Big West Conference semifinal match to No. 6 Hawai'i on Saturday night, as the Matadors were eliminated from championship contention with a 6-5 defeat.
The two-seeded Matadors and three-seeded Rainbow Wahine battled back-and-forth for 32 minutes with neither team able to break away from the other. Hawai'i led twice by two goals in the contest but each time the Matadors found a way to rally back to nod the game.
CSUN struck first on a Kelcy Barott score with 3:50 left in the first quarter to give her team the early lead. It appeared the lead would hold up before the end of the period but Paula Chillida Esforzado squared the game at 1-1 with a goal less than a minute before the end of the period.
In the second quarter, the Rainbow Wahine built a two-goal lead with scores from Chillida Esforzado and Claire Nixon to go ahead 3-1. Kelcie Ferreira responded with a score, less than two minutes before halftime to trim the deficit in half.
The third period saw the most goals in the contest with the Rainbow Wahine scoring twice and CSUN adding three of its own.
Trailing 4-2 with six minutes to play, Katie Kammer rifled in back-to-back goals within two minutes apart to tie the game at 4-4. After the Rainbow Wahine moved ahead again 5-4 on Chillida Esforzado's third goal of the night, Ferreira squared the game at 5-5 with less than a minute to play in the quarter.
After the flurry of goals in the third, the final period saw a defensive struggle. With the game tied and a championship birth hanging in the balance, Hawai'i broke the tie on Chillida Esforzado's fourth goal with five minutes to play.
The Matadors furiously attempted to drive in the tying goal in the final minutes of the match but were unable to hit the equalizer.
Senior Kiernan Davis saved 13 in the contest moving her into sole possession of second-place all-time in school history with 776 saves in her historic Matador career.
CSUN return to the pool to face No. 8 UC Davis on Sunday in a third-place game. The match is scheduled to start at 7:15 PT.
CSUN- 1-1-3-0 - 5
Hawai'i- 1-2-2-1 - 6
CSUN Goals: Barott (36), Ferreira 2 (27), Kammer 2 (13),
UH Goals: Chillida Esforzado 4, Nixon 2
CSUN Saves: Davis 13
UH Saves: Logan 5
Photo Courtesy of Shane Grace
