SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Eleventh-ranked Hawaii used strong outside shooting and a stout defense to knock off host Santa Clara 16-6 Friday afternoon at the Sullivan Aquatic Center.
The Rainbows (2-0; 0-0 Big West) jumped out to an early 5-1 advantage in the first period, spoiling Santa Clara's 2013 home-opener. Canadian National Team member, senior Monika Eggens scored a game-best four goals for a Hawaii team that will compete on Stanford's campus this weekend.
The Broncos (1-4; 0-2 WWPA) received three goals from Kaitlin Murphy on the inside, with freshman Julia Peters adding two and Jamie Swartz scoring another from the outside.
"It's early in the season and (Hawaii) is definitely a good team," said Santa Clara head coach Keith Wilbur after the game. "But we have to do a better job of reading what they were giving us on defense and not trying to force stuff that's not there. That was the main thing, but I think when we actually did settle in, our half court defense was pretty good and we had some players do some good things for us on offense."
Santa Clara split goalies, giving senior Stephanie Clements the start, then using junior June Afshar in the second half. On the offensive end, Murphy, a redshirt sophomore from Carlsbad, Calif., was able to establish position in front of the Hawaii cage and provided the Broncos with a team-best three goals.
"Kaitlin (Murphy) is definitely an explosive player at two-meters," says Wilbur. "Both her and Julia (Peters) can do some really good things for us if we can open it up and get them the ball. Julia is also a good perimeter player and we tried sliding her out to get (Murphy) the ball and that worked well."
On Saturday the Broncos look for a WWPA road win at Cal State Monterey Bay, while also squaring off against Fresno Pacific later in the afternoon in Monterey.
"I think we need to go out and set the tone by playing OUR game," said junior starter Jenny Anderson on Thursday when asked about the upcoming conference game in Monterey. "(Monterey) runs a defense where they have two people in the cage, a goalie and a shot-blocker. If we put the right shots away and push our counter (attack), we should do well."
For the very latest on Santa Clara men's and women's water polo follow the Broncos on Twitter (@SCUPolo).
Saturday, Feb. 2
Santa Clara @ CS Monterey Bay - 10 a.m. (WWPA game) - LIVE VIDEO
Santa Clara vs. Fresno Pacific - 1 p.m.
No. 11 Hawaii 16, Santa Clara 6
Feb. 1, 2013 at Sullivan Aquatic Center
Santa Clara, Calif.
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|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
Final |
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Hawaii |
5 |
6 |
4 |
1 |
16 |
|
Santa Clara |
1 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
6 |
UH Goals: Lewis (2), Wilson (1), Eggens (4), Lopes da Silva (1), Carr (2), Genee (3), Esforzado (3)
UH Saves: Hogue (5)
SCU Goals: Kaitlin Murphy (3), Julia Peters (2), Jamie Swartz (1)
SCU Saves: Stephanie Clements (3), June Afshar (3)
