Go figure. After fourth-ranked Hawai'i and fifth-ranked Cal frustrated each other for almost their entire Mountain Pacific Sports Federation water polo match yesterday, the Rainbow Wahine's most potent weapon — Kelly Mason — shockingly found herself free with 14 seconds remaining and powered in the winning goal for a 6-5 victory.

The result left both teams shaking their heads at windy Duke Kahanamoku Aquatics Complex. Only the 'Bows had huge smiles while the Golden Bears were grim.

"I don't know how that came about," Mason said. "They just seemed a little confused. We had a lot of driving going ... suddenly I was there and hit the shot."

UH coach Michel Roy, whose team has won nine of its last 12, could not explain it.

"She was frustrated the whole game until that last shot," he said. "So we got lucky, right? Somewhere there was a mistake."

Cal (27-5) fell to 2-3 in the MPSF. It is tied for fourth with sixth-ranked San Jose State, which got seven goals from Juliet Moss in yesterday's 19-14 victory over eighth-ranked Arizona State. Hawai'i (14-7) is 2-4 with one MPSF match remaining, Friday against seventh-ranked San Diego State.

"If we had lost it would have been bad for us," said Roy. "Now, there might be a three-way tie for fourth place."

Mason went a step further: "If we'd lost, I think our season would have been done. We couldn't lose another one."

The All-American from New Zealand also figured in the 'Bows' fourth goal, floating backwards with the ball for what seemed like an entire possession until sophomore Saara Majuri broke free inside. Mason found her and Majuri lobbed in her 25th goal of the season to help UH catch Cal yet again.

"They just told me to hold the ball," Mason said. "I didn't know what they were doing."

Majuri again won all four sprints to start each quarter, giving the 'Bows the chance to draw first blood. They converted only once, with Carmen Eggens scoring her second goal a few seconds into the second half.

Hawai'i failed to convert to start the game, with Cal's Meghan Corso — the coach's daughter — getting a steal and goal in the first 44 seconds. UH tied it on Dagmar Genee's goal 33 seconds later and went up 2-1 on Eggens' first goal. The Bears would score the next two and the teams went scoreless through a second period where Cal freshman Stephanie Peckham had seven of her 15 saves.

Hawai'i's Serena Bredin, a sophomore, had fewer opportunities but was just as effective, stopping eight shots. The 'Bows held Cal without a score for 8:52 while the Bears stifled Hawai'i for 10:54, and prevented UH from scoring on all six of its 6-on-5 opportunities.

But the 'Bows scored when they had to, getting three of the game's last four goals and shutting Cal out the final 2:59. The Bears failed to score with a 6-on-5 in the last minute. They had another opportunity to take the lead but turned the ball over with 30 seconds left and barely got a shot off after Mason's second, winning, goal.

"I guess both teams played nervous," Roy said. "We had more opportunities and we rushed. They rushed, too. ... The game was just a rush but it's always a game of one goal with us."

NOTES

The Bears' volunteer assistant is Maureen O'Toole-Purcell, generally considered the greatest female water polo player in history and a swimmer for UH in the early 1980s — before water polo was a collegiate sport. O'Toole was Cal's first water polo coach, from 1996 to '98, guiding the Bears to second-place national finishes all three years. She was the only water polo player over the age of 30 at the 2000 Olympics, and helped the United States to a silver medal.

"I would have loved to play water polo here," O'Toole said. "I loved it here."

Hawai'i has five scrimmages against the Canadian and Australian national teams next month before it hosts the MPSF Championships April 24 to 26.

There are four Rainbow Wahine among the Top 25 in MPSF scoring, with Kelly Mason seventh, Leonie van der Molen ninth, Carmen Eggens 21st and Lisa van Raalte 25th.

Cal coach Rich Corso coached both the U.S. men's Olympic team and Canadian national team. UCLA coach Adam Krikorian was named head coach for the U.S. women Friday and will take over when the Bruins' season is over.