UH to be tested in Big West opener

Of all the Division I conferences, the one with the longest active winning streak against the Hawaii soccer team, eight games, is a highly familiar one.

The tormentor is not the Pac-12 nor the West Coast Conference, traditionally considered the top two leagues on the left coast. It’s UH’s own — the Big West.

After going 0-8 in Big West play and 3-14-1 overall in 2015, UH has enjoyed an impressive turnaround season to this point at 7-1-1, the best nine-game record in program history. But that won’t matter if the Rainbow Wahine can’t produce results in eight games over the next 31 days, starting today at Cal Poly in the opener of a two-game road trip through Central California.

UH, as it has been reminded every year since it joined the Big West in 2012, has yet to qualify for the conference tournament — and a shot at an automatic NCAA tournament berth — in the distillation process from nine teams to four.

“I think this year I feel really good about our chances, just because our team is so different than we’ve been in the past,” sixth-year coach Michele Nagamine said. “I think the mental toughness and physical fitness part of it is just so much better than it’s been. So we’ve done everything to set ourselves up for success.

“The unfortunate part is the Big West is very good. So what can you do about that? Sometimes I wish we (the BWC) were ranked 32 in RPI in the country, out of 33 conferences. But we’re not. We’re No. 8. And that’s how it goes.”

UH was picked to finish last in the Big West preseason poll, but the Wahine then earned respect with their nonconference outings. Thanks to a draw against Oregon and road wins over Denver and Air Force, UH is rated 62 in RPI among 334 Division I teams. The top Big West team is UC Santa Barbara (9-1-1) at 60, but Long Beach State (4-5-1, 81), Cal State Northridge (5-2-4, 121) and UC Irvine (8-4, 123) are not far behind.

The Wahine underwent some rigorous physical training to stay sharp during a two-week layoff from official games, and beat the UH alumnae 5-0 in an exhibition Sunday. They will count on their improved defense, led by center back Storm Kenui and goalkeeper Monk Berger, and an opportunistic offense paced by Northwestern transfer Addie Steiner (four goals) and Aiea alumna Raisa Strom-Okimoto (four goals, five assists).

Steiner, an all-conference-caliber player in the Big Ten, is anxious to see what contrasts the Big West has to offer.

“Yeah, the Big Ten, definitely bigger girls. More physical,” the 5-foot-2 Steiner said. “But I feel like maybe the speed of play will be a lot faster on the West Coast compared to Midwest. We’ll just have to find out, I guess.”

Cal Poly, despite a pedestrian record (5-5-1), is rated ahead of UH in the NSCAA’s weekly West Region top-10 poll among teams from the Big West, WCC and WAC. UCSB is third, with Cal Poly seventh, UH eighth, Northridge ninth and Irvine 10th.

A breakthrough in the Big West could start with a personal breakthrough at San Luis Obispo, a school UH is 0-6 against all-time. Cal Poly rolled the Wahine 7-2 on the Waipio Peninsula last year.

UH follows at UC Santa Barbara on Sunday.

“I think we’re going to need some kind of points (win or draw) this weekend,” Nagamine said of keeping pace for the BWC tourney. “If we could split this weekend, win out at home, we should be sitting pretty good.”

She described Cal Poly and UCSB’s fields as two of the league’s tougher places to play. The Mustangs play on their football field, narrow by usual soccer dimensions. UCSB is known to bring a boisterous student crowd.

Cal Poly and UCSB are a combined 10-1 at home.

“Honestly I think it’s going to be one of our toughest games, both of them,” Berger said. “Cal Poly and Santa Barbara are very strong teams. But we can keep up, we can dance around with them. You know, we’re there to take care of business.”