A breakthrough road win at UC Davis was what the Hawaii soccer team needed, and what it delivered.
Tiana Fujimoto scored the go-ahead goal on a rebound in the 74th minute and the Aggies had an own goal two minutes later in a 2-0 decision in Davis, Calif., on Thursday, giving Michele Nagamine’s team its first Big West Conference mainland victory in eight tries since joining the league in 2012.
"It felt very, very special because when you mean for something to happen, you’re not just sitting around wishing for it to happen," Nagamine said in a postgame phone interview. "We did everything that we were supposed to do today. We defended well, we fought to the end. We were better about the details today."
UH (7-7, 2-3 BWC) remained in the hunt for one of four league tournament playoff berths with the win over the Aggies (3-7-3, 0-2-1).
Some luster came off the victory when freshman forward Kama Pascua received her second yellow card — equaling a red card and automatic ejection — in the 87th minute.
UH will be without its second-leading scorer for Sunday’s match at Long Beach State (8-5-1, 2-1-1).
"We’ll deal with it," Nagamine said. "It’s unfortunate that Kama’s out for Long Beach, but we’ll deal with it. Just like we always do."
Freshman goalkeeper Monk Berger’s fifth shutout tied the UH single-season record shared by Kori Lu, Erin Chow and Mahie Atay. Berger had six saves.
Meanwhile, Fujimoto’s ricochet goal on a Pascua shot off the post was her 20th career and career-best ninth of the season for the junior forward.
"She just pounced on this one and finished it like nobody’s business," Nagamine said.
Only Natasha Kai (seven, twice) had more game-winning goals in a season than Fujimoto’s five this year.
