Hawaii soccer season ends in Big West semifinals
Hawaii made the Big West soccer tournament for the first time, but tonight showed the Rainbow Wahine have a long way to go to win a conference championship.
Top-seeded Cal State Fullerton took it to the Wahine from the outset and advanced to Sunday’s Big West title game at UH’s expense with a 3-0 victory on their own Titan Field.
Savannah Sloniger (ninth minute), Maddie Bennett (16th) and Haley Brown (51st) scored to bring the Wahine season to a close at 6-8-4 overall.
UH athletics supplied a postgame video of coach Michele Nagamine from on site at Fullerton.
Fullerton (13-2-4) faces second-seeded Cal State Northridge (12-6-3), which beat UC Santa Barbara 1-0 in overtime preceding UH’s match. An automatic NCAA tournament berth is on the line.
UH’s conference regular-season Big West record of 4-1-3 was its first above .500 in eight years in the league. Nagamine was named Big West Coach of the Year on Wednesday, while Alexis Mata was the Goalkeeper of the Year. Mata had seven saves Thursday, including five in the first 15 minutes as the Titans opened with a barrage of shots.
UH showed a tendency all season to come out slow and turn it up in the second half. It lived up to its reputation today — but this time the Titans proved too good to come back on as UH did to earn a 1-1 draw at Titan Field on Oct. 20.
The Wahine were more competitive late, closing the final shot count to 12-9 in CSF’s favor. But they were shut out for the first time against a Big West foe this year.
RECORD: 6-8-4, 4-1-3 Big West
| DATE | OPPONENT | LOCATION | TIME/RESULT |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8/22/19 | USC | Lower Campus Field | L, 0-3 |
| 8/26/19 | San Francisco | Lower Campus Field | L, 2-3, OT |
| 8/29/19 | Nevada | Lower Campus Field | W, 1-0, OT |
| 8/31/19 | Sacramento State | Lower Campus Field | T, 0-0, 2OT |
| 9/6/19 | at North Dakota State | Fargo, ND | W, 1-0 |
| 9/8/19 | at North Dakota | Grand Forks, ND | L, 1-2, 2OT |
| 9/10/19 | at South Dakota State | Vermillion, SD | L, 0-1 |
| 9/14/19 | Alumnae exhibition | Lower Campus Field | — |
| 9/19/19 | Washington State | WPSS | L, 0-1 |
| 9/22/19 | UCLA | WPSS | L, 0-4 |
| 10/3/19 | Cal State Northridge* | WPSS | W, 2-1, OT |
| 10/10/19 | UC Irvine* | WPSS | W, 3-0 |
| 10/17/19 | at UC Riverside* | Riverside, Calif. | W, 2-0 |
| 10/20/19 | at Cal State Fullerton* | Fullerton, Calif. | T, 1-1, 2OT |
| 10/24/19 | Cal Poly* | WPSS | T, 1-1, 2OT |
| 10/27/19 | UC Santa Barbara* | WPSS | L, 1-4 |
| 10/31/19 | at UC Davis* | Davis, Calif. | W, 3-2 |
| 11/3/19 | at Long Beach State* | Long Beach, Calif. | T, 1-1, 2OT |
| 11/7/19 | at Cal State Fullerton (Big West semifinals) | Fullerton, Calif. | L, 0-3 |
| * — Big West game All times Hawaii time |
watched the game last night. yes, the wahine soccer team has a long ways to go before they can really content for the championship. Fullerton looked so good and like it was to easy. too much speed and skill. especially on offense, Fullerton girls were all moving as the ball is being brought up, while the wahine were either standing and watching and not moving. this is coaching.