Welcome to the Big West, indeed.
Cal State Northridge scored 91 seconds into the match and outshot the Hawaii women’s soccer team 19-6 as the Rainbow Wahine fell 2-0 in their BWC debut on Sunday at Northridge, Calif.
UH (5-5-2 overall) suffered its fourth straight road loss after going unbeaten over the previous seven matches. The Wahine were unable to finish against one of the top defensive teams in the NCAA.
Second-year UH coach Michele Nagamine was resolute afterward. She said the shot count did not reflect the way her team played in this one — but that her team needed to rid itself of hesitation in taking shots around the Matadors’ goal area.
"This is a team that is going to contend for the Big West championship," she said of CSUN (4-3-4, 1-0 BWC). "My No. 1 goal for our team this year was to be competitive in the Big West. And you know, we did that tonight.
"We didn’t even have jitters. We just started off slow. The kids are in a good frame of mind. We’re going to come home and get right back at it on Tuesday. Finishing, finishing, finishing."
Sophomore midfielder Krystal Pascua had four of UH’s six shot attempts.
It was the third shutout loss for the Wahine this season, and seventh shutout win for the Matadors, who have allowed only seven goals all season.
Melissa Fernandez assisted on the early goal, which came from a misclear in the box, then added a breakaway score on a rebound in the 63rd minute to seal it.
UH plays its BWC home opener on Friday against UC Riverside.
"I think I am the most proud that we came back the way that we did," Nagamine said. "We started to really play soccer tonight. There were times that we looked really good."