New Mexico State ends Hawaii soccer season

An inability to finish shots resulted in a sudden season finale for the Hawaii women’s soccer team.

Coach Michele Nagamine’s turnaround first season in Manoa came to an abrupt end in a 2-1 loss to New Mexico State in the opening round of the Western Athletic Conference tournament in Fresno, Calif., on Thursday.

The third-seeded Rainbow Wahine led 1-0 on a goal by freshman midfielder Krystal Pascua in the 19th minute, assisted by junior forward Skye Shimabukuro. But the sixth-seeded Aggies — who earned a tournament berth with a 1-0 win over UH last week — knotted up the match by halftime and got the go-ahead score on a second-half counterattack.

UH (5-12-1), a possession-based team, couldn’t control the ball for extended stretches against the physical Aggies. Needing a score in the final minutes to equalize, the Wahine failed to muster a clear shot on goal in what would be their final WAC match.

It was frustrating in a game in which UH outshot its opponent 14-5.

“Us not finishing our opportunities killed us tonight,” Nagamine said in a phone interview. “We certainly created some opportunities. I thought we played well enough to win, but that’s why soccer is the beautiful game. On any given day, anybody can win, anybody can lose and when you don’t finish the opportunities that are created you’re going to be punished in the end.”

In an often-thrilling swan song through the WAC (4-2-1), UH earned its first WAC tournament berth in three years. The Wahine came close to earning the tournament’s second seed and a first-round bye in the tourney, but in falling to No. 3 they had to play the first day and meet NMSU for the second time in less than a week.

A missed clearance in the penalty box allowed Jennae Cambra to get NMSU on the board in the 42nd minute and take a 1-1 tie into halftime.

“After we scored the first goal, I thought we had it in the bag because we dominated that whole half,” sophomore defender Chelsea Miyake said. “And then after that goal they scored, we lost our confidence. It was hard to regain it after that.”

NMSU repeatedly attempted to clear the ball deep to streaking strikers, and finally exploited an outmanned UH defense on a counterattack in the 63rd minute.

Bree Luhrsen scored the go-ahead goal on a third effort when the Aggies’ first shot went off a post and the follow-up try was deflected by junior goalkeeper Kanani Taaca … but to a waiting Luhrsen.

NMSU (10-7-3) remained unbeaten against UH in three seasons. It advanced to face second-seeded host Fresno State in today’s semifinals.

Among the UH seniors playing their final match were Brittani Lum, Colleen Burns, Kaylee Kihara and Alyssa Simbahon.

Nagamine substituted freely in the first half, making full use of her expanded 22-person tournament roster and employing several freshmen.

UH remained on the mainland after last week’s taxing road trip to Las Cruces, N.M., and Ruston, La. Nagamine acknowledged her team was fatigued, but refused to use that as an excuse.

“Now that I look back, I think we probably over-subbed a little bit in the first half, but we have a lot of injuries, a lot of kids who were touch-and-go on game day,” Nagamine said. “We had to keep things fresh and keep the momentum going. If I could go back I probably would have changed a couple of things, but nothing too major. We had a good lineup in there.”

UH departs for the Big West Conference in the offseason. Its lone WAC tournament title came in 2007.