Wahine laid groundwork for future

Progress was made. Hopes were raised.

Now the work really begins for the Hawaii women’s soccer team.

Michele Nagamine set out to remake a struggling program through energy and tough love in her first year as head coach. It wasn’t always pretty, but the young Rainbow Wahine achieved plenty of positives in 2011 by making some noise in their final season of Western Athletic Conference play.

UH endured losses to several ranked teams and a 1-8 start to the season before shaking things up in the WAC, knocking off eventual top-two finishers, Utah State and Fresno State, on the way to a 4-2-1 league record (5-12-1 overall), good for third place.

It was the first time in three years the Wahine qualified for the WAC tournament. Though sixth-seeded New Mexico State defeated third-seeded Hawaii 2-1 in the tourney’s opening round last week, ending UH’s season, Nagamine and her players came home with a feeling of accomplishment.

"What it will do is give the kids something to be hungry for," Nagamine said. "I think our seniors were happy to make it back to the WAC tournament. We achieved our goal this season."

It figures to get a lot tougher when UH joins the Big West Conference for the 2012 season. In soccer, the California-based league is considered much stiffer competition than the WAC.

"It’s going to be a whole ‘nother deck of cards in the Big West. Teams like (UC) Irvine, Long Beach (State), (Cal State) Northridge, and Pacific, it’s going to be tough for us right out of the gate," Nagamine said. "We go into this with our eyes wide open. We know the Big West is a very competitive conference, but it’s helped us tremendously with our recruiting and exposure.

"As the caliber of play goes up overall for us, the caliber of our recruits goes up as well. … I think the word has kind of spread about what we’re doing in Hawaii."

The coach said positions of need were goalkeeper and forward, adding that of six new players committed to UH, four could immediately contend for starting jobs.

Much of the success UH earned this season came at the feet of several true freshman and sophomores. But several seniors had a final say, too. The back line must be restocked with the departure of defenders Brittani Lum, Colleen Burns and Alyssa Simbahon. Lum, an All-WAC second-teamer, came up big in her final year with a team-best five goals. Next season, junior-to-be Chelsea Miyake should anchor the defense in front of senior goalkeeper Kanani Taaca.

At midfield, UH loses a team leader in Kaylee Kihara, but gets the vocal Rachel Domingo (team-best five assists) back for another year, thanks to a medical hardship from a previous season. Freshman Krystal Pascua showed flashes of being a big part of the team’s future with four goals.

On the attack, All-WAC second-team pick Skye Shimabukuro (three goals, including two game-winners) returns for her senior year, and young strikers Tiana Fujimoto, Ashley Haruki and Alexis Colacchio got a wealth of experience in their first year. Finishing attack opportunities will be an emphasis of spring training.

"Our young players grew up really fast. They got a ton of experience this season," Nagamine said. "The one thing I told our team was, don’t let this team outgrow you as a player. Meaning, you need to make sure that your preparation for next season starts tomorrow. … Make sure you’ve helped change the culture of the program. And now the work really begins."