The win signaled a change in the pool.

Roosevelt handed Kahuku its first-ever league loss with a 9-7 win Wednesday in an O'ahu Interscholastic Association girls water polo match.

Roosevelt senior Taesha-Marie Keola scored six goals to lead the Rough Riders (11-0) over a Red Raider (10-1) squad that had reeled off more than 70 straight league victories and won all six OIA water polo titles.

"There's no word to describe the feelings that day," said Keola, who led the league with 40 goals scored this season. "There's so many feelings going through, it was special."

Kahuku has long been the dominant squad in the pool, but the growth of the OIA along with player experience has closed the gap between everybody else and the Red Raiders. The league had 15 teams this year as schools have continued to add the sport since its inception in 2003.

"We've improved a lot as a team, we've got so much better skills-wise and we bonded well," Keola said.

The upset almost didn't happen. Kahuku scored four straight goals to erase a 7-3 deficit and tie it at 7-7 on Keola Kehaulelio's goal with 4:11 left in the game.

Roosevelt coach Susan Nishioka responded by calling a timeout.

"We responded with a score from Tiffany Tran," Keola said of her teammate who scored the go-ahead goal right after the timeout. "Coach told us to calm down, we had it, we had to focus."

Keola scored her sixth goal of the match for the final margin.

"I was happy, glad we were successful against them," Keola said.

"The past years were pretty hard. This year, we're kind of even."

Roosevelt beat Kahuku twice during the preseason this year, but Keola said it wasn't the "true Kahuku team" at the time.

"It did prove we could win them," Keola said.

The OIA water polo tournament starts Thursday with quarterfinal games. The championship is Saturday with a possibility of another Roosevelt-Kahuku matchup.

"It gives us the confidence that we need, gives us the confidence we can do it again and take the OIA title this year," Keola said.