Even without flash, Krystal still shines

Before Krystal Pascua took the field for club tryouts at 10 years old, she already stood out.

Hawaii coach Michele Nagamine, then with Leahi Soccer Club, remembers distinctly. Pascua, dressed head-to-toe in white Adidas gear with surname displayed on the back of her jersey, commanded attention. Then there were her abilities, which were exceptional.

"Like, who does that?" Nagamine said. "Ten years old, comes out with the ball, starts carving everybody up. We’re like, holy moly, this kid can play. Always, since she was 10 years old, she’s just had that kind of demeanor and that aura about her."

Pascua will figure to be front and center again Thursday at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium, when UH (5-5) takes on Cal State Fullerton (2-7-2) to open Big West Conference play.

The center forward and tallest player (5 feet 8) in UH’s aggressive 4-3-3 scheme is typically a focal point of opponents’ preparation. While Pascua has never led UH in scoring, she’s a threat to find the net whether she’s against single or double coverage. Often, it’s the latter.

If she’s attracting a swarm — and this part separates Pascua from her early days at UH out of ‘Iolani — she’ll look to move the ball quickly to an open teammate. In the past, she was known to pit her strength and technical dribbling abilities against some long odds of success.

"It just made me, all these years … learn how to play faster and develop my game in a way where I can see other things rather than just playing how I used to play," Pascua said.

The Rainbow Wahine program had a void of leadership when she arrived the same time as Nagamine prior to the 2011 season. Gradually, she grew to shoulder that mantle.

Today, the pecking order is clear.

"She’s kind of like the mother hen; everybody looks to her to guide them," Nagamine said. "And if Krystal says go, you go. You don’t question, ‘how fast do I go, how far do I go?’ You just go. And I think she commands the respect of everybody around her."

As her game and responsibilities evolved, so too did her persona.

UH learned that a typical scouting report against the Rainbow Wahine included a footnote that they could be taken out of their technical, ball-possession game with heavy doses of physical play. And that started with Pascua.

She and her little sister, UH sophomore Kama, hail from a highly competitive family. They are two of seven Pascua siblings, all of whom excelled in at least one sport.

That background made it difficult to back down against opponents’ rough-and-tumble tactics. But once the elder Pascua learned they were deliberate, it became easier to combat them the right way. (And avoid yellow cards.)

"We’ve been working on it this year, trying to keep our cool," she said. "Having intense, hard practices like that. Everybody else getting in our face in practice instead of them, so we’re used to it. But we’re getting better. If they want to be physical, that’s fine. We’re just going to shake it off and try to not let it get in our heads and say, ‘Argh, I just want to get her back!’"

Would freshman Krystal have understood that mentality?

"No," she said with a laugh. "No." 

If anyone would notice a difference in Pascua’s mind-set, it would be her inseparable little sister. Where one goes, the other typically isn’t far behind.

"She’s definitely more calm as a person," said Kama, who flanks Krystal in UH’s attacking front. "She handles things way more maturely. She really just embraces her role as leader, as the role model."

Nagamine shakes her head at the degree of growth and substance shown from the once-flashy girl.

"She’s helped us rebuild this program from the ground up," Nagamine said. "You know, she’s carried the heaviest slabs of concrete and laid the foundation. And she’s going to leave us so much better than where she found us. 

"She’s the woman."