Wahine can’t round up a win against Cowgirls

Hawaii twice took a lead on Wyoming, and twice Wyoming quickly responded.

The Rainbow Wahine were unable to respond to the Cowgirls’ equalizers as the teams battled to a 2-2 draw in the Outrigger Resorts No Ka Oi tournament opener on Thursday at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium.

It was a frustrating evening for coach Michele Nagamine and her team, which still seeks its first win of the season. UH (0-2-1) outshot the visitors from the Mountain West Conference 23-11 and had a couple of missed chances at a golden goal in 20 minutes of extra time.

"I thought it was a really tough game," Nagamine said. "There were some inconsistencies. We couldn’t get a vibe. … We just didn’t know what a foul was. (Wyoming) was pretty hungry tonight; I think everybody was looking for their first win. And you know what, we had some of our big-name players just not show up."

Nagamine hinted at some lineup changes going into Monday’s tournament finale against Denver. Wyoming and Denver play each other on Saturday at Waipio.

Still, senior forward Tiana Fujimoto scored her first goal since returning from a season-long injury and sophomore defender Paige Okazaki scored her first career goal in the fourth minute.

"It’s going to come down strictly to work rate," Nagamine said. "I want the people who are going to outwork everybody else."

Fujimoto put UH up 2-1 in the 52nd minute when Kama Pascua burst 40 yards upfield with the ball. Pascua weaved untouched through traffic and slotted it left to Fujimoto, who took one dribble and got a 10-yard near-post shot to deflect off goalkeeper Cassidy Entsminger, up off the crossbar and in.

But Wyoming was not done. Shaina Ashouri juked through the UH defense and scored in the box in the 76th frame.

"(The goal) felt good when we were up, but when we were back tied it felt like nothing," Fujimoto said.

UH dodged a few more bullets to make it to overtime. Pascua and Storm Kenui had near misses in the first 10-minute extra period.

Kenui had a 25-yard blast in the second OT go off the Wyoming keeper’s hands then the crossbar but stubbornly stayed out of the net.

"It’s kind of upsetting, just because we know we’re better than that," Kenui said of the missed chances. "It wasn’t looking up for us today just because we couldn’t finish."

Wyoming (0-0-2) had a chance in the final minute nullified by an offsides call.

In the teams’ first meeting since 2002, an early goal by Okazaki off a corner kick scrum in the box was quickly offset by a Mandy Meyer header off a cross in the eighth minute.