Rainbow Wahine prevail in soccer

The Hawaii women’s soccer team picked up its first Western Athletic Conference victory of the season in a 1-0 shutout of Fresno State yesterday at Bulldog Stadium.

Sophomore forward Skye Shimabukuro had the game-winner in the 51st minute on an assist from freshman midfielder Karli Look, and the Rainbow Wahine (3-10-2, 1-2-1 WAC) stayed in the race for one of six berths to the WAC tournament at the midpoint of their league slate.

The win was also big for tiebreaker purposes as the Bulldogs (4-7-2, 0-2) are likely a team UH must stay ahead of in order to qualify. The Wahine earned their second win in eight tries in Fresno; the only previous victory there came in 2002.

UH also ended a school-record-tying nine-game winless streak going back to Sept. 5.

"Effort, effort and effort," UH coach Pinsoom Tenzing said of his team’s breakthrough. "Pressure all over the place. People were getting sick, getting asthmatic, but they kept playing. … We played in (Fresno’s) half of the field. The team’s really upbeat, and now they’ve got something to show for it."

UH breaks from WAC play in a nonconference game at Cal State Bakersfield tomorrow.

Payne, Powers advance in Portugal

Hawaii surfer Dusty Payne won his first-round heat at the Rip Curl Pro Portugal surf contest yesterday.

Payne topped Kieren Parrow and C.J. Hobgood to move all the way into the third round.

Roy Powers, another surfer from Hawaii, placed second in his heat to move into the second round.

Two others from Hawaii, Andy Irons and Fred Patacchia, have yet to surf their first-round heats in the Association of Professionals World Tour event.

Dolan brothers place in Mexico

Hawaii’s Dolan brothers had a successful showing at the Pan American Championships in Mexico City over the weekend, helping qualify three spots for next year’s Pan American Games, which will serve as a second-chance qualifier for the 2012 London Olympic Games.

Kailua’s Patrick Dolan and Morgan House of Georgia placed fifth in the final of the K2 1,000 meters, while Ryan Dolan took third in the K1 500-meter and 200-meter finals.