Rainbow Wahine breeze past BYUH

No drama on a holiday works just fine for the Hawaii women’s soccer team.

Goals by Amber Fuller, McKenzie McGoldrick and Tiana Fujimoto were enough to put away Brigham Young-Hawaii 3-0 on Labor Day at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium.

"I think we used up all our drama for the season," said UH senior goalkeeper Kanani Taaca, referring to her team’s two one-goal victories and a double-overtime tie in three previous outings at WPSS this year. "It was a good night tonight."

Taaca effectively directed her defense and recorded her first shutout of the season and eighth of her career. She didn’t need a save in this one as UH outshot BYUH 16-1, including 9-0 on goal.

"Personally, I’d rather have it this way," she said. "Any way I can take a shutout."

In the first regular-season meeting between the teams, UH built a two-goal halftime advantage and got an insurance score from Fujimoto — her Big West-leading fifth of the year — in the 89th.

UH’s home unbeaten streak (7-0-2) was never really in jeopardy against the Division II Seasiders of the Pacific West Conference. The Wahine moved to 4-1-1 in nonconference play, while BYUH dropped to 1-1.

"To have a drama-free match was exactly what I needed this week," UH coach Michele Nagamine said with a laugh. "It was a well-played game, it was physical. BYU was very organized. … It was nice to have a game like this where we can highlight Hawaii soccer."

Perhaps most importantly for the Wahine, no major items were added to UH’s long list of injuries going into the Outrigger Hotels and Resorts Soccer Classic this weekend at WPSS. UH plays Ball State on Friday and Detroit on Sunday.

Nagamine got to experiment with a number of new lineups and tried several players at new positions.

UH opened by playing ball control in the backfield for long stretches, rocking the ball from sideline to sideline. From there it was clear the teams’ speed disparity would be tough for the visitors to overcome.

The Wahine got on the board in the 10th minute with a header by Fuller off a free kick by Chelsea Miyake. It was the senior’s first goal of the season and second of her UH career.

Junior forward McGoldrick added her second score of the season in the 39th minute, finishing a cross by Addison Carroll directly in front of BYUH keeper Megan McCain.

Fujimoto took a slotted ball from Karli Look to score with the game winding down to seal the win.

"I wanted to give them an opportunity to play against a higher-level squad and get some learning experiences and learn and grow from it," BYUH coach Alex Ruegner said. "We were expected to have a tough match and they definitely showed that today."

The score could have been far more lopsided. BYUH midfielder Kassy Binning saved a sure goal with 20 minutes left in the first half after McCain was beat on a header play by Ashley Haruki. A racing Binning cleared the ball away with a slide tackle just before it reached the goal line.

Miyake nearly added to the lead on a corner-kick header with 10 minutes left in the game, but McCain reversed direction and snatched the ball out of the air for one of her five saves.