Rainbow Wahine end season with road loss

A turnaround season swerved away from the Hawaii soccer team.

The Rainbow Wahine capped their 2016 campaign with a 1-0 loss at Cal State Northridge in double overtime on Sunday afternoon. Hawaii (9-6-2, 2-5-1 Big West) was already knocked out of contention for the conference tournament going into the day, but Michele Nagamine’s team attempted to end things on a high note and record its first road win on the Big West road against the first-place Matadors.

It was not to be as 34 seconds into 2OT — the game’s 101st minute — Kourtney Kutscher received a header in the box off a free kick and delivered it into the net.

UH went winless in its last four games — they were against the top four teams in the league — and finished in a three-way tie for sixth place. It needed a top-four finish to stay on the mainland for this week’s Big West tournament, something the Wahine haven’t qualified for in five years in the conference. They were already knocked out with a 2-1 loss at UC Irvine on Friday.

“It was for sure a battle,” Nagamine said in a phone interview once her sixth season came to an end. “I was really happy with the way we came out and played. We were composed, we were executing. We were firing on all cylinders. It’s hard … we know we’re not going to the tournament but we’re playing the first-place team.”

The Matadors learned they won the Big West regular-season championship between the first and second overtimes, when Cal State Fullerton’s decision over second-place Irvine was announced.

“And it just swung,” Nagamine said. “They were screaming … and then they just came out on fire.”

The Matadors (11-4-5, 6-1-1) and goalkeeper Jovani McCaskill shut out their nation-leading 14th opponent of the season. For UH, senior goalkeeper Monk Berger recorded five saves in her final game.

Seven of UH’s eight seniors made the trip and saw action: Berger, Storm Kenui, T.J. Reyno, Addie Steiner, Lauren Takai, Madison Reed and Ryan Daniel.

Steiner recorded three shots, including a great look on a 1-v-1 with McCaskill in the first OT that went high.

UH lost by a goal in all four of its Big West road games in 2016, running its streak of conference road losses to eight going back to last season.

The Wahine, 3-14-1 a season ago, still recorded their first winning season since 2008 and most wins overall since the 2007 team took a program-record 15. The 2016 squad posted UH’s best record through nine games at 7-1-1 — then conference play hit.

“I think overall it was just a great season,” Nagamine said. “It was frustrating that the Big West Conference is such a tough conference.”