Hawaii soccer: Irvine loss clinches Big West tournament berth for Wahine
For the first time in its eight years as a member of the Big West Conference, the Hawaii soccer team is through to the league’s postseason tournament.
After UH (6-7-3, 4-1-2 BWC) put itself on the cusp of qualifying with Thursday’s 3-2 win at UC Davis, the rest was taken care of for the Wahine when UC Irvine lost in overtime at Cal Poly, 3-2, on Friday.
“We were all watching at our hotel. Oh jeez. My heart,” coach Michele Nagamine messaged Warrior World.
Hey @CPWomensSoccer, Mahalo!#HawaiiWSoc is in the @BigWestWSOC tournament for the first time in program history! pic.twitter.com/zxMhXRX65q
— Hawaii Soccer (@HawaiiWSoccer) November 2, 2019
The winner of the four-team tournament gets the Big West’s automatic berth to the 64-team NCAA Women’s College Cup. The semifinals take place Thursday at a site to be determined, with the title match on Sunday at the same site.
The Wahine can now do no worse than fourth place with their 14 standings points. In fact, they’re still in the running for the regular-season championship — and hosting duties for the tournament — if a specific scenario happens on Sunday.
UH needs pull off a win at Long Beach State at noon (HST); and current points leaders Cal State Fullerton (15) and Cal State Northridge (15) must draw; and UC Santa Barbara (14) cannot win at home against Irvine, because the Gauchos own the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Wahine.
At this point — UH was picked to finish seventh in the preseason — who the heck knows?
Through Nov. 14
| Conference | Overall | |||
| W-L-T | Pts. | W-L-T | Pct. | |
| Cal State Fullerton | 5-0-3 | 18 | 14-3-4 | .762 |
| Cal State Northridge | 5-3-0 | 15 | 12-7-3 | .614 |
| UC Santa Barbara | 4-1-3 | 15 | 8-5-6 | .579 |
| Hawaii | 4-1-3 | 15 | 6-8-4 | .444 |
| Cal Poly | 3-3-2 | 11 | 6-10-3 | .395 |
| UC Irvine | 3-3-2 | 11 | 4-12-2 | .278 |
| Long Beach State | 2-5-1 | 7 | 4-12-1 | .265 |
| UC Davis | 2-6-0 | 6 | 7-11-0 | .389 |
| UC Riverside | 1-7-0 | 3 | 3-14-1 | .194 |
Cal Poly’s B West W-L record is now 2-3-2 , i think.
Updated.
Congratulations to the Wahine for making it to the BW championships for the first time (with some young players). Where are the posters that bad-mouthed the coach.
Congratulations. Eight years in the BWC, and finally UH is fourth place…
Congratulations, Na Wahine! Despite the non-Hawaii fans that can only ridicule your success, such as Otto, you’ve accomplished one of your goals for the season; plus you still have a chance to be Big West champions! You all have nothing to lose because the media didn’t think you’d be in this position anyway, Otto and others who think like him included! Go Na Wahine Soccer!!
Go, Na Wahine !
To The TOP !
All UH Sports (still) in the Hunt for BWC Championship…
Congrats for Nagamine for getting the the team to the BWC berth. Finally, she understands the calling that the fans were looking for. Of course, due to the preparations of the three Pac-12 teams on the schedule, it is paying off in some dividends. Now is the matter of time to finish strong.
Despite all the ridiculousness that they had endured, this is now a time to get them back on track to the postseason. You would think that after a 2-6-1 non-conference record, they wouldn’t be able to make it. Of course, the answer is clear, they have to finish up their last match against LBSU and it’ll be all said and done. That being said, they could have a shot in moving on up. But yeah, this is truly a spectacle to watch.
#PostSeasonNagamine
Took team too long to make playoffs. Mediocre coaching, not enough talent. But good luck
Winning says it all. Winning is what it’s all about. Winning is the best revenge! 😊