For the first time all season, the pressure is on.

Not only is the Hawaii women’s soccer team under the gun to qualify for the Western Athletic Conference tournament, but this weekend is the last chance to make memories at home for six Rainbow Wahine seniors.

UH (3-10, 2-1) still has a chance to win the regular season in its last go-round in the WAC, if it can make its final two contests at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium count. However, the conference is so wide open with four games to play that nothing is assured regarding the WAC tournament; UH could still finish in the bottom two and miss it entirely, especially considering the caliber of teams the Wahine still must play. UH hosts WAC contender Fresno State (8-3-3, 2-0) on Friday at 7 p.m. and San Jose State (3-10, 1-1) on Sunday at 5 p.m., then takes on contenders New Mexico State and Louisiana Tech on the road next week.

"Having a good start to the WAC and being tied for first, all of that stuff, this is a position that we’ve never been in before. We’ve never been the one that everybody’s looking to beat. We’re usually at the other end of that stick," first-year coach Michele Nagamine said. "So I’m confident that we’re going to be prepared and we’re going to play very, very hard, but I’m also curious to see how a very young team is going to respond to that pressure."

Yes, the Wahine roster is young overall, but the seniors have diverted wrecking balls away from this rebuilding team.

Most notably, senior defender Brittani Lum led on both ends, scoring a team-best five goals this season despite spending most of her time patrolling the back line.

"Anything I can do to make the team better, I’ll try to do that," Lum said.

It’s been a rough time for UH the last two years; it failed to qualify for the WAC tournament twice and had a coaching change. But the four-year starter from Folsom, Calif., has no regrets.

"It was kind of an easy decision to come out here. I had other schools in mind that were out of state too, but I decided that coming here was the best decision for me and I just think I had a good experience here," Lum said. "I’m really glad I made that decision."

She’s joined by fellow senior defenders Colleen Burns (who will play this weekend coming off a leg injury) Alyssa Simbahon and Tiffany Ikeda-Simao. Kaylee Kihara has been steady at midfield, and backup goalkeeper Keisha Kanekoa, the former Wahine point guard, was a welcome addition in her only season of post-basketball eligibility. A seventh player, forward Lauren Ho, supported the team from the sidelines even though the NCAA did not grant her another year of eligibility as the team hoped. Each player will be honored after UH’s final home game against SJSU.

Midfielder Rachel Domingo was considered a senior until recently, but she will make use of a prior medical hardship to play next season.

The luster of the strong start to league play — UH knocked off WAC favorite Utah State and Nevada in its last homestand — was dulled somewhat by a 4-2 road loss at Idaho and a 3-0 nonconference defeat at Seattle last week. The Wahine, even-keeled all season after absorbing loss after loss to ranked teams in nonleague play, were still unfazed at practice this week.

"I think (the seniors) are always going to be remembered by me as the class that helped us to turn the program around, despite what our record is, whether we win the next four games or lose them," Nagamine said. "The program is definitely going to be left in a better state because of this class. They’ll always be the first senior class who had a chance to help right the ship."