HONOLULU — Bridget Layburn reared back and heaved the ball as a Cal player frantically bore down on Hawaii’s water polo goalkeeper.
Layburn, her view obstructed by violent splashing and waving arms, couldn’t see the ending to an all-time game. She sure heard it, though.
Layburn’s length-of-the-pool prayer at the buzzer was answered and the No. 5 Rainbow Wahine defeated No. 3 Cal, 9-8 in double overtime with not one, but two miraculous shots — freshman Bia Mantellato Dias beat the buzzer of the first overtime with a skimmed rocket from near center pool just to extend the game at Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex.
“I could see everyone screaming so I was just like, hands-on-face shocked, like I can’t believe that that happened,” Layburn said, later adding that it was “absurd.”
“The feeling, the crowd, everything was just absolutely electric. I can’t even express how amazing that was.”
After collecting herself following a raucous celebration, UH coach Maureen Cole said she was proud of her team for biding its time for opportunities in a game in which it trailed most of the way — and against a team they’d already narrowly lost to on the mainland this season.
“It was the mindset. It was the fight. They always felt they were in it,” Cole said.
But with Cal leading 8-7 in the final seconds of overtime and UH in scramble mode, UH (16-3) appeared sunk.
Then madness ensued.
The Golden Bears (15-5) appeared to be able to put away the game from close range as Layburn had vacated the net. But UH came up with a steal near the goal with nine seconds left, and the Wahine worked the ball ahead to Mantellato Dias. The Brazilian had just enough time to gather the ball and fire it from long range; it skimmed off the surface and over the head of surprised Cal keeper Isabel Williams.
“I was kind of like, not believing anymore, but I’m gonna shoot it, always going to take the last shot,” Mantellato Dias said. “And then it went in and I got goosebumps from my toes to my head. It was crazy.”
No one was able to score in the sudden-death overtime period that followed, with UH missing twice. The Bears held for the final shot of the three-minute period, figuring that at worst the game would reset to a third OT. They brought up Williams to center pool for a 7-on-6 offensive possession.
The Bears got two shots at it, with Layburn saving both from opposite sides. The second, to Layburn’s right, was stopped cleanly, and she had just enough time to collect the ball and launch it.
Layburn, of New Zealand, had a similar shot for a goal at UC Santa Barbara on March 10, albeit for much lesser stakes. She also attempted one against Long Beach State on Thursday — that one was off the mark.
It’s not a shot she practices.
“It’s kind of just (throw) it as hard as you can and hope for the best,” Layburn said.
Time expired with the ball in midair but, as in basketball, a shot is still good if it’s released before the horn.
A couple hundred fans in attendance erupted when it dropped just inside the posts. Teammates in the pool swarmed Layburn in a fit of hugs and splashes.
Cole, a former player at powerhouse UCLA and the U.S. national team who’s been UH’s head coach for 13 years, couldn’t compare the finish to anything she’d been a part of.
“I mean, Bia’s shot and ‘Bridge,’ those two sequences, by far, most incredible finish ever for sure,” Cole said.
As to where the result ranked for her, she said, “It’s the Wahine team, it’s the culture. I’m just so happy for them they got to do this. And the crowd was amazing tonight. The energy, to feel this, it was definitely up there.”
It was instantly a signature moment for a UH program that has struggled to crack into the national top four, always comprised of elite California programs Stanford, USC, UCLA and Cal. The Wahine periodically get chances to test themselves against that group in stand-alone nonconference matches like Saturday, but victories have been seldom.
“That means a lot. I feel like that’s a hurdle that we’ve really needed to get over,” Layburn said. “We have a really important game next week against UCLA, so to come off a win like that is so confidence-boosting for all of us. That’s just a huge game-changer for our whole season. That gives us the hope that we need getting into the Big West (tournament) and hopefully the NCAAs.”
Mantaellato Dias and Alba Bonamusa Boix led UH with three goals. Layburn was credited with seven saves to Williams’ 12.
UH resumes Big West play at UC San Diego and Cal State Fullerton on Thursday and Friday before meeting UCLA on Sunday.
Some more photos from the match:
Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.