Hawaii kept its Big West soccer tournament drive alive on senior day. Anything further was just not to be.
UH’s 2-0 victory over Cal State Northridge at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium on a blustery Sunday was exactly what the Rainbow Wahine needed, right down to the plus-two goal margin for tiebreaker purposes, but their season came to an end nonetheless.
Prayers among five bubble teams were answered elsewhere, however. Michele Nagamine’s squad needed two other specific results around the BWC and got only one; Long Beach State fell 2-1 at home to UC Riverside and UH needed those teams to play to a draw. UCR earned the last available of four BWC tourney berths.
UH finished at 8-8-1 overall, 3-4-1 in the Big West, good for a tie for fifth. The Wahine were picked in the preseason to finish seventh.
"We came out and we did our job, and that’s all that we can ask for," UH coach Michele Nagamine said. "We didn’t get the tie we needed … but we have no regrets. We stuck to our game plan and good things happened."
After UH learned its fate just moments after beating last-place CSUN (6-12-1, 1-6-1), the team bid farewell to seniors Karli Look, Chelsea Miyake, Malé Fresquez, Skye Shimabukuro, Bree Locquiao and McKenzie McGoldrick.
"I’m all choked up about it. We played an amazing game, we hustled and we did what we needed to do," said Fresquez, a defender who scored on a putback early in the second half. "We can only control so much. … Everything else has to fall into place. But we did what we needed to do — that’s all we had control over, and I’m proud we did that."
UH seemed dead to rights for the tourney after its 2-1 home loss to UC Irvine on Oct. 24, especially with second-leading scorer Kama Pascua out Sunday from a red-card suspension. But the Wahine kept catching breaks in other BWC teams’ losses and draws, setting up an improbable scenario wherein UH could make the BWC tournament for the first time.
The Wahine almost got there. Instead, they had to settle for matching last season’s overall win total.
Junior forward Tiana Fujimoto scored the go-ahead goal on a breakaway pass from Skye Shimabukuro in the 31st minute. It was Fujimoto’s 10th of the season and seventh game-winner, tying a single-season mark held by Natasha Kai.
"I think it was a lot for the seniors to end on a good note as a team," Shimabukuro said. "We’re still here for the spring (training), so we’re trying to turn it around and (help the others) prepare for next season already."
UH’s experienced back line, Nagamine’s "Timex Crew," will be totally reshaped next season with three seniors departing. But that group went out well with a stalwart defensive effort.
"We just wanted to end it strong, playing one last time with each other," Look said. "We just wanted to play our hardest and our best."
Freshman goalkeeper Monk Berger earned her seventh shutout, extending her single-season UH record.
Locquiao, who missed the better part of the last two seasons with knee injuries, entered to an ovation late in the match. She played out the last eight minutes.
