HONOLULU— In a top-10 match-up that saw 10 ties, No. 6 UC Irvine (16-6, 6-0 BW) topped No. 4 Hawai'i (18-5, 5-1 BW) 11-10 at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Center on Saturday evening.

With their eighth straight victory to remain undefeated in conference play, UCI has now clinched at least a share of the Big West regular season title.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>No. 4 Hawai'i outshot No. 6 UC Irvine, 23-22
>The 'Eaters last win in Honolulu was in the title game of the 2022 Big West Championship where UCI prevailed 11-8 against the Rainbow Wahine
>UH was only able to convert three of their 13 powerplay chances (0.231) where UCI was 4-8 (0.500)
>Erin Tharp made the start in the cage, blocking six shots in her seventh win of the season
>Nine Anteaters tallied shots in the contest
>Kennedy East led the team in goals with four on five shots
>East also tallied an assist and a steal in the contest
>Libby Alexander notched the hat-trick going 3-5 at the cage
>Both Gracie Helberg and Brooke Banta had perfect shooting (1-1)
>Mica Schiavone led the match in steals, tallying two
>Hawai'i was led by Bella Montellato Dias who recorded five goals on shots and striped the ball six times
 
FIRST PERIOD
>The 'Eaters struck first at 6:24, goal scored by Libby Alexander, 1-0
>After missing their first four shots, the fifth attempt for No. 4 Hawai'i goes in the net at 2:04, 1-1
>The Rainbow Wahine committed a foul where Alexander (1:34) was able to capitalize on the power play opportunity, 2-1
 
SECOND PERIOD
>Hawai'i knotted the game 2-2 at 6:58 with a one player advantage
>Kennedy East (3:39) was able to sneak one by the Rainbow Wahine defense to keep the Anteaters ahead, 3-2
>UH evened the game back up on a made five-meter penalty shot after missing one earlier in the period, 3-3 (3:13)
>Two missed shots from the 'Eaters led into Hawai'i taking their first lead of the game at 1:42, 3-4
>UC Irvine called a full timeout after the Rainbow Wahine committed an exclusion. Gracie Helberg (0:06) executed the play drawn up in the break off the pass from East, 4-4

THIRD PERIOD
>Two seconds after an exclusion was called on UCI, Hawai'i (7:46) was able to place the ball into the cage to reclaim the advantage, 4-5
>Airian Grisham evens it back up at 5-apiece at 7:00
>After a three and a half minute scoring drought, Brooke Banta (3:25) scored to give UC Irvine their first advantage since 1:34 in the first period, 6-5
>Hawai'i responded to the Anteaters goal with one of their own at 3:06, 6-6
>The two squads exchanged goals in a 26 second span with East (1:49) placing one into the cage on the powerplay chance, 7-7
>With 58 seconds left in the quarter, Alexander notched the hat-trick, 8-7

FOURTH PERIOD
>Hawai'i won the sprint to set up their scoring play at 7:42 to knot the game back up, 8-8
>Nioka Thomas (5:40) was able to adda tally to the scoresheet to put the Anteaters up 9-8
>UH found the back of the net twice, first at 4:43 and then again at 3:21, giving the Rainbow Wahine their first lead since the start of the third stanza, 9-10
>UC Irvine looked to make some adjustments at 2:12. East notched the hat-trick at 1:52 before she stripped the ball away from a Hawaii attacker to then deposit another at 1:16, 11-10
>Hawai'i would fire off one final shot, but it was knocked down by Erin Tharp
 
UP NEXT
UC Irvine will honor their seniors prior to the start of their contest against No. 7 Long Beach State on Saturday April 22^nd at 12 p.m.