Seniors can play beyond home finale

Bree Locquiao made it all the way back. Improbably, the Hawaii soccer team can still do the same.

Due to a confluence of outcomes around the Big West Conference since UH’s seemingly fateful home loss to UC Irvine last Thursday, the Rainbow Wahine are somehow very much alive for the last BWC tournament berth entering the final day of regular-season competition Sunday.

"That’s why soccer’s the beautiful game," UH coach Michele Nagamine said.

UH (7-8-1, 2-4-1 BWC) needs a win Sunday against last-place Cal State Northridge by a margin of at least two goals — and requires two other specific outcomes in other BWC matches — to create a four-way tie at 10 points in the standings with UC Riverside, UC Davis and Long Beach State.

UCD must beat UC Santa Barbara and UCR and LBSU must play to a draw in the other Sunday matches. Those matches will start simultaneously in California an hour before UH’s noon kickoff at the Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium.

The Wahine would be awarded the last of four tourney berths in that very specific scenario.

What’s known definitively is UH will send off six seniors, including Locquiao, a midfielder who’s missed all 16 games this season, plus the entire 2012 campaign with knee injuries.

"I just try to cherish every moment I have ’til Sunday," said Locquiao, a Mililani High product who will go into nursing. "(I’m) ready to play in front of my family and friends. … Hopefully we can go on to the Big West tournament."

And why not? At this point, anything seems possible. UH already survived four outcomes around the BWC that would have meant instant elimination for the Wahine if a win, loss or tie for a certain team had gone the wrong way.

Nagamine credited her seniors with overcoming daunting obstacles in their careers, which in a few cases involved severe injuries.

"You look at the personal progress each of these kids has made, and it’s kind of mind-blowing for me," she said.

On the five other departing seniors:

UH will say goodbye to three-quarters of its "Timex Crew" back line that played nearly every minute of every game over the past two seasons. Four-year starters Karli Look, Chelsea Miyake and Male Fresquez were staples for Nagamine since she took over the UH reins in 2011.

"We’re very stable, I guess you could say, since we’ve been together for so long," said Miyake, another Mililani alum who scored four goals as a junior. "And it’s built our confidence up since our freshman year."

Miyake’s known for her booming clear-out kicks, Fresquez for her steady demeanor and captain’s confidence and the versatile Look for juking out multiple opponents at a time on jaunts upfield. Miyake wants to be a counselor, Fresquez a fashion merchandiser and Look a doctor or dentist.

"I love the energy and the adrenalin of going, I keep wanting to go forward," said the Punahou product Look with a laugh. "It’s really fun. … It’s spur of the moment. It just happens."

Fresquez, of the Los Angeles area, knows what she’ll miss most once she graduates next fall.

"I always talk about playing out at our stadium because it’s quite the experience and there’s an air about it that makes me really proud to be where I am," she said. "I love the crowd and the energy there."

Forward Skye Shimabukuro was a valuable reserve this season coming off a medical hardship year and will likely see more time Sunday as the Wahine are without second-leading scorer Kama Pascua, who was red-carded against UCI.

"This season really meant everything," said Shimabukuro, of Kauai, who wants to go into dental hygiene. "This is it. We went through ups and downs as a team, but we’re sticking it out together. We’re still fighting."

Lastly, attacker McKenzie McGoldrick missed the entire season with a knee injury, but, like Locquiao, helped out at practices every day. She finished with four goals in two active UH seasons and might join a team in her native California as a law student.

"It’s just been such an honor to be part of this team for the last three years," McGoldrick said. "Just to be in a new generation with the coaches."