The pressure gets cranked up a notch this weekend for the Hawaii soccer team.

In a road swing to Pac-12 teams Oregon and Oregon State today and Sunday, the Rainbow Wahine will feel the heat to get a few firsts: a first win, a first goal, and their first success in hostile territory in what feels like a while.

Ball pressure, particularly on defense, also figures to intensify.

The Wahine went a woeful 1-8-1 on the road last season and are just 2-20-1 in their past 23 away contests going back to late 2010.

“I don’t want to make excuses for why we did bad on the road, but this year we’re definitely changing up some things, like when we eat and all these simple things just to ensure we’re ready for our games,” senior defender Chelsea Miyake said.

UH had a bye week to prepare for its first road trip of 2013 following shutout home losses to UNC-Greensboro and Central Florida.

“If we revert back to the unconfident, sluggish and lax team that we used to be, we’re going to get killed,” UH coach Michele Nagamine said. “But I’ve spent the entire week working on pressure, pressure, pressure. Everything we’ve done has had pressure on. We’ve worked in and around our own 18-yard box, having our scout team really press our backs and really work out of tight spaces and connect with the midfield.

“You don’t have time to bake cookies and pass the ball,” she added.

UH will have to contend with some harsh math, too. It is 3-25 (.107) all-time against Pac-12 teams, with the last win coming on the road at USC in 2004. Since then, the Wahine have dropped 11 straight matches against the West Coast’s premier league.

Since 2003, the Pac-12 has sent seven teams to the NCAA tournament eight times, and the league has appeared in four of the past six national championship games. The good news for UH is UO (2-2) and OSU (1-2-1) are not typically at the top of their league.

Nagamine cautioned her team not to be wowed by the superior facilities of the Pac-12, particularly those of Oregon, whose campus she said “emanates money.”

The coach made some tweaks to the team’s 4-3-3 formation from the opening weekend. She moved last season’s top scorer, Tiana Fujimoto, to the central striker position from the left and shifted junior Krystal Pascua from forward back to her natural position at midfield. Freshman T.J. Reyno moved up to take Fujimoto’s spot on the wing.

“(Fujimoto)’s just too dangerous and I feel we lost productivity with putting her on the flank,” Nagamine said.

The goalkeeper situation is still unsettled, with the coach undecided on a starter between redshirt freshman Erica Young and true frosh Monk Berger. The two split the first two matches, but a deadlock between them might go to the more experienced Young.