Although Lāhainaluna won (7-6) with a goal in the last two minutes of the game, the KS Maui water polo team stayed up and up with them, making for an exciting game today at Kamehameha’s Pi’ilani Aquatic Center.

“I am extremely proud of our girls,” Coach Ashley Miller said. “We definitely gave them a run for their money.”

The two teams went head-to-head from the start, with an early goal from Lāhainaluna in the first quarter.

To tie it up, senior Leimana Hassett got one in, followed by junior Chanel Browne. But the Lunas came back, with two more goals, ending the first quarter 3-2 in favor of the Lunas.

In the second quarter, Lāhaina played aggressively, causing the referees to eject two players. Upon one of the ejections, Hassett scored off a penalty shot from 5 meters out and tied the score at 3-3.

After the half-time break, both teams came out hard again. Junior Mia Czerwinski was the runner for the Warriors and won first possession of the ball.

The Luna’s regained possession, and after a sprint by one of their players, luring sophomore goalie Mele Ngalu to come out of the basket, the Luna’s scored another goal.

But the Warriors were not going to let them get far. Freshman Quinn Shiraishi scored her first goal of the night to even the score again at 4-4.

Soon after, Czerwinski fouled and was ejected. Though the Luna’s tried to take advantage of her absence, they did not score. Instead, Warrior senior Kela Killam scored, and the Warrior fans cheered with excitement over the very close game.

On the counter, however, Lahaina scored, changing the score to 5-5.

To start the fourth quarter, the Luna’s got in another goal, giving them a lead of 6-5.

Shiraishi came back with a goal, right before being ejected. The score was now 6-6.

As both teams continued to fight hard until the end, it became very aggressive.

With less than two minutes left on the clock, the Luna’s had possession. On their attack, a Luna fired a shot past Ngalu, giving them the lead again at 7-6.

On their next possession, the Warriors had time for two attempts on goal — one went high and the other went wide.

With less than 30 seconds left in the game and not a Warrior in sight, the Luna goalie held the ball at her side of the pool, and by the time the Warriors realized what was happening, the clock had wound down to just seven seconds, not enough time to regain control of the ball.

The final score was 7-6.

In total, the Lady Warriors had 18 shots on goal.

“It was tough, we definitely never had a game that was that close,” junior Mical Ventura-Estrella said. “We played really well considering the amount of players we had.”

The Warriors are 2-1 for the season.

Gallery • 8 Photos

Photo by Maile Sur

Junior Mical Ventura-Estrella shoots while trying to move around a defender during the Luna's 7-6 victory over the Warriors on Tuesday, March 11, 2014 at the Pi'ilani Aquatic Center.