Patience is a virtue for two Wahine soccer players

Stay. Staaaaay.

The temptation to run upfield is always there for a natural playmaker on the soccer pitch, especially for those who grew up playing nothing besides forward or attacking mid.

For Hawaii’s converted defenders Storm Kenui and T.J. Reyno, every game is a test of mental training to go with the usual, considerable physical rigors.

“Sometimes I couldn’t stay back, or I just wanted to keep going forward,” the center back Kenui said of her first defensive efforts. “It’s hard, but you gotta discipline yourself somehow. I’ve learned a lot playing in the back, and that’s patience, which is a huge thing.”

Reyno is a senior like Kenui, but on the outer back, which allows her to make the occasional attack — if she trusts herself to leave her post.

“Lately I haven’t been doing that,” Reyno said. “But I kinda had that mentality to stay back a little bit, and look (at things) develop and see how the play works. And I just pick and choose if I want to go.”

Back-line adjustments

The revamped back line, which returned Dani Crawford and Paige Okazaki, is a big reason why the Rainbow Wahine have the program’s best record through nine games (7-1-1). Today’s 5 p.m. alumnae exhibition at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium is all that remains before the start of Big West play next week.

After witnessing opponent after opponent effectively fire foosball spinners into the Wahine net in 2015, UH coach Michele Nagamine decided during spring training that a serious overhaul of a porous defense was in order. She found the solution in two homegrown talents recruited for their offensive prowess: Kenui (Moanalua) and Reyno (Mililani).

Kenui and Reyno, answering independently, had a strikingly similar answer to why the other is a good defender.

“I just know she’ll win balls,” Kenui said.

“She’s very strong and she always wins the ball,” Reyno said.

Winning combo

Kenui, a natural team leader and a two-time Big West second-teamer at midfield, had moonlighted at center back increasingly since her sophomore year of 2014, exceeding expectations in those stints. The striker Reyno, healthy at last after a string of nagging injuries, emerged in the spring as one of the team’s best individual defenders with her fast-twitch reflexes, speed and intuition. The coaches decided she was a natural fit at outer back.

“I think we found a combination that works well,” Nagamine said. “They seem to have some good chemistry. The level of confidence is probably higher than we’ve ever had before. So that’s been a nice thing to see, especially when you think about where we were last year as a unit.”

UH had a goals-against average of 2.45 per game last year, on the cusp of being the highest in program history (2.52 in 1995). This year, UH is yielding only 0.74, representing a program best; the Wahine have shut out nearly half of their foes so far. Only Colorado, in Boulder, has scored more than once on the Wahine, who were rated 57th in the NCAA’s first RPI release of the season this week.

Crawford, a co-captain like Kenui, mans the right back post, across from Reyno on the left. Combined with a stellar season so far from senior goalkeeper Monk Berger, Crawford noted a vastly improved confidence spanning the width of the pitch.

“We know we have each other’s backs,” said Crawford, herself a former attacker who transitioned fully to defense as a freshman. “I think adding Stormy and T.J. was honestly a great decision. Super vital for us. Just the pace and the aggression, and I feel like we all work amazingly together. It’s for sure solidified how we did in (nonconference), just having those people back there.”

Manning the fort is especially important at center back, which must coordinate with the keeper and the midfield in equal measure.

“It’s a big change,” Kenui said. “But the important thing is, if I’m making an impact on my team. I’ll play wherever I need to be.”

Full-time job

When Kenui was only a part-timer in the back, there was little pressure; she could effectively give it a go and say she tried her best. It’s different when it becomes your full-time job and you’re the one responsible for preventing enemy one-on-ones with your goalkeeper.

“Storm’s done a really good job of managing the external pressure of being the center back, and the senior captain,” Nagamine said. “And she’s really become so much more mentally tough.”

The 5-foot-2 Reyno, a former ESPN top-100 recruit, has already made a couple of memorable goal-saving stops and clears with her one-on-one prowess. Nagamine compared her to a hyperactive small dog in the old “Kibbles ’N Bits” commercials.

“Communication is very key back there, and your surroundings,” Reyno said. “You need to know who you’re around and who to combine with. And you just have to be proactive.”

And above all else, stay back.