UCI Falls To No. 2/2 Hawai'i On Friday Evening

Friday, April 5

Irvine, CA

7 p.m.

UC Irvine

14-10

Hawai'i

17-3

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Hawai'i	4	3	3	3	13
UC Irvine	2	2	3	0	7

UCI Falls To No. 2/2 Hawai'i On Friday Evening

April 05, 2024 | Women's Water Polo

Box Score

By: Jordan Kehoe

IRVINE, Calif. – No. 8/8 UC Irvine dropped 13-7 to No. 2/2 Hawaii on a windy Friday evening inside the Anteater Aquatics Complex.

The meeting between the Anteaters and the Rainbow Wahine was a rematch of the last five Big West championship finales.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

Freshman Annabelle Mundelius led UCI in scoring with two goals
Airian Grisham, Kennedy East, Libby Alexander, Brooke Hourigan, and Lauren Hett had the remaining Anteater scores
Rachel Kirchner made the start in the cage and played the first eight minutes of the contest
Faith Tedesco saved five shots in the remaining three periods
Gracie Helberg held the team high in assists with two
Jensine Bugelli stole the ball a team best two times
UH went 4-8 on power play chances while UCI went 1-5
Both sides converted on their five-meter penalty attempts
No. 2/2 Hawai'i was led by Lot Stertefeld who recorded three goals on five shots to go along with four assists

SCORING BREAKDOWN

First period: No. 2/2 Hawaii lofted and ripped in the center at 6:42 for the first goal before Brooke Hourigan (5:16) had a direct dagger within two meters to even the game. The Rainbow Wahine put two into the back of the cage in just a little over a minute apart (4:15, 3:10). Then, Annabelle Mundelius (2:41) took a deep shot that hit the upper left corner. With 19 seconds left in the period UH used the water for a quick flick in, 4-2.
- Hourigan (1) and Mundelius (1)
Second period: Libby Alexander (6:06) was fed the ball in the middle for the sneaky put-in and Kennedy East (4:54) lofted her shot over the arms of the Rainbow Wahine goalkeeper to even the game 4-all. No. 2/2 Hawai'i closed out the period with three unanswered goals to hold the 7-4 lead at the break.
- Alexander (1) and East (1)
Third period: Airian Grisham was aggressive on the offensive end as she corralled the ball after the Hawai'i defensive stop at 6:45 for the score. Mundelius posted her second goal of the contest on a power play at 3:28 after a UH penalty shot (6:15) and before their long-range score (1:49). Lauren Hett was able to convert on the five-meter penalty opportunity at 1:03 to cut the deficit to two, but the Rainbow Wahine were able to get around three defenders on the next possession (0:41) to push the margin back to three, 10-7.
- Grisham (1), Hett (1), and Mundelius (1)
Fourth period: No. 8/8 UC Irvine faced stout defense in the final period as they were unable to convert on the offensive front. UH saw three goals go into the cage in the final eight minutes as UCI fell, 13-7.