SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The No. 15-ranked Indiana University water polo team finished its opening weekend with an 8-5 win over the No. 5 University of Hawaii Rainbow Wahine at the University of California-Santa Barbara Winter Invitational.
After a 20-5 tough loss to No. 3 University of California-Los Angeles Bruins, the Hoosiers responded against Hawaii with eight goals, including five from junior Kelly Matthews. This win is IU’s first Top-10 win since they beat then No. 10 Princeton University on April 10, 2015.
The Rainbow Wahine opened this contest with a 3-1 lead before the Hoosiers responded with two goals to tie it, one from freshman Joelle Nacouzi and Matthews.
Back and forth the teams went in the second half as after three quarters, the score was knotted at four thanks to a freshman Mollie Williams goal with seven seconds left before the break.
Less than a minute into the fourth quarter, Hawaii took a 5-4 lead. Then IU didn’t stop scoring.
First it was Matthews, it was Matthews again, then again it was Matthews who scored for the Hoosiers. With two minutes to go, the Hoosiers had a 7-5 lead. With 42-seconds left, Nacouzi put the icing on the Hoosiers victory with a goal of her own to finish the 8-5 win.
Release courtesy Indiana University Athletics Communications
