Second-ranked Stanford steamrolled any thoughts of a happy ending for Hawaii in water polo coach Maureen Cole’s home debut Saturday.
The Cardinal scored on their first three possessions of the second half and ran away from the 14th-ranked Rainbow Wahine, 12-4.
Stanford was up 4-3 at halftime, before a curious and relatively rowdy crowd of 525 at Duke Kahanamoku Aquatics Complex. The mood was not nearly as upbeat as the Cardinal offense went into overdrive in a brilliant second-half display.
"We did some good things," said Cole, who was Michel Roy’s assistant at UH the past five years. "Stanford is a great team. They are impressive and they played well and they’ve got a lot of girls who can play. We’re working on it."
Ultimately, Hawaii (5-8) could not match Stanford’s depth, or come close. Adding to Hawaii’s fatigue was unfamiliarity — half the UH starters just enrolled this semester.
Leading Wahine scorer Amarens Genee got a great pass inside from Monique Wilson a minute into the match and gave Hawaii (5-8) its only lead at 1-0.
The teams were never more than a goal apart in the opening half, with Wilson scoring on a penalty shot and Caity Lopes da Silva hitting from outside on a power play.
But less than 3 minutes into the second half, Stanford (14-1) had stretched its advantage to 7-3.
On the other end of the windblown pool, the Cardinal got Genee into foul trouble and the rest of the Wahine could not compensate. Emily Carr scored Hawaii’s only second-half goal, after nine straight from Stanford.
Asked what her team has to improve immediately, Cole hesitated.
"There are like a million things going on in my mind," she said. "We have to learn a lot. I guess the most important thing is offensive balance. That gets us in trouble going the other way."
UH goalie Serena Reid finished with four saves. She saw Stanford adapt its attack in the second half, "and it kind of shocked us a little, I think."
Hawaii, now 0-3 in conference, plays another Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match Thursday at fifth-ranked San Diego State, then has the Aztec Invitational over the weekend. Its final home matches are against San Jose State (March 24) and top-ranked UCLA (March 31), the only team to beat Stanford.
That is something the Wahine have never accomplished. A victory over the Cardinal is on Cole’s extensive to-do list.
"She is so passionate," said Reid, a sophomore from Australia. "I’m used to crazy European coaches who yell. She’s a really different kind of coach because she more steps back, but you really respect her because you know she knows what she’s talking about. She knows her stuff."
That’s basically what Stanford coach John Tanner said, after taking Cole’s team out on her opening night in Manoa.
"I don’t think a lot of people realize how great a water polo mind she has," Tanner said. "It struck me all along. She’s got a really good sense of how this sport should be played."
