ISLE FILE
Olympics will have two UH athletes
Advertiser Staff
Iefke Van Belkum and Meike De Nooy, two women's water polo players with ties to the University of Hawai'i, will compete for The Netherlands in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.
The Netherlands captured the European Olympic Qualification Tournament with a 13-12 overtime victory over host Russia on Sunday.
Van Belkum, who finished the tournament third in scoring with 16 goals, found the back of the net only once in the match as her golden goal came in overtime providing the Dutch with the margin of victory. Van Belkum played her freshman and sophomore seasons (2005-06) and has two years of eligibility remaining once the Olympics are completed. De Nooy, who was in goal for the Dutch during the match, finished her eligibility this past spring for UH head coach Michel Roy.
Italy finished third with an 8-6 win over Spain while Hungary and Greece placed fifth and sixth, respectively. Those teams now participate in the Intercontinental Qualification Tournament in Trieste, Italy — the final selection stage for the 2008 Olympics — determining the last three slots from Europe.
SOCCER
UHH WOMEN WIN
Karissa Robertson's goal in the second half broke a 1-1 tie and helped the University of Hawai'i-Hilo women's soccer team notch its first victory of the season by beating St. Martin's College, 3-1, yesterday at Lacey, Wash.
Robertson connected with Karen Weatherby two minutes in the game for the Vulcans (1-2), but Kayci Donatelli scored five minutes later to tie the game for the Saints (0-1).
Robertson scored the go-ahead goal in the 65th minute, and Megan Pachecano added an insurance goal on a one-on-one with the goalie with less than two minutes left to play.
In men's action, Jacob Dupuis and Chris Laise scored one goal apiece as St. Martin's beat UH-Hilo, 2-1, yesterday at Lacey, Wash. UH-Hilo is 0-3 and St. Martin's is 1-2.
UH-Hilo's Luis Lanz tied the score at 1 off an assist by Drew Morehouse at the 64-minute mark, but Laise's goal put the Saints ahead one minute later.
Meanwhile, the Brigham Young University-Hawai'i women's soccer team opened the season yesterday with a 3-3 tie against Central Washington at La'ie.
BYUH led at halftime 2-1 on goals by Sarah Welty (36th minute) and Stefanie Wright (42nd minute) but the Wildcats (1-0-1) came back with two second half goals before the Seasiders' Jill Haar tied the game in the 86th minute. The two teams played two scoreless overtime periods.
