The meltdown was contained this time.

Alex Gerrain scored a big insurance goal in the 77th minute and the Hawaii women’s soccer team quarantined a furious charge by UC Davis to prevail 3-2 on Friday night at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium.

UH (7-8-2, 2-4 Big West) kept alive hopes to make the four-team conference tournament with the win. It will need another victory over Pacific in Sunday’s 5 p.m. senior night game, then some magic on the road next week.

That comes later. Closing out this one felt good for second-year coach Michele Nagamine after her team led 2-0 at halftime, and 3-1 after Gerrain’s score. The Rainbow Wahine have allowed costly late-game goals at previous points this season, and this one looked headed to a similar outcome when the Aggies (7-7-2, 2-3-1) cut UH’s two-goal lead to one on a score by Ashley Edwards in the 87th minute. They kept the pressure on until the clock read zero.

"They’re a very disciplined team, so they kept plugging and plugging and plugging. A little bit of fatigue, and a little bit of ‘Oh please don’t let what happened to us in the past happen again,’ " Nagamine said. "I was screaming up until the last five seconds and counting it down.

"A tie or a win against a team like that, it spoke volumes about how far we’ve come."

The first of many meetings between the new league foes went decisively to the hosts in the first half. Sophomores Krystal Pascua and Tiana Fujimoto scored within a three-minute span in the first 17 minutes.

UCD, rejuvenated at halftime, narrowed the gap with a chip-shot goal by Lexi Poppoff over goalkeeper Kanani Taaca just four minutes into the second period.

That’s why Gerrain’s ultimate game-winner loomed large. From near the top of the box, she intercepted an attempt to clear by UCD and put it home. It was the freshman’s second goal of the season, and first at Waipio.

"We’ve been pushing really hard in practice and coming back out here it’s been great to get a win in front of our fans," said Gerrain. "We did what we needed to do."

Pascua put in her fourth goal of the year in the 14th minute on another missed clearance in the box by the Aggies.

Fujimoto reversed direction in the box in the 17th minute. The juke gave her enough space to fire a shot past the keeper for her team-best seventh goal of the season and a 2-0 lead. It ended an eight-match no-goal drought for the sophomore.

"What Hawaii does is they’ve got a lot of spunk, a lot of energy, and they run at you," UCD coach Maryclaire Robinson said. "It is a long way (to get here) … you’re coming in at a disadvantage. It’s our job to take it from Hawaii. From the starting point, they took it to us."

UH posted its highest goal output since a 3-0 win over Brigham Young-Hawaii on Sept. 3. It would need every netted ball against the Aggies.

UH will send off its five outgoing seniors — Taaca, Amber Fuller, Rachel Domingo, Christy Watanabe and Michelle Nakasone — on Sunday.