Respect on the soccer pitch is not easily earned in the Big West Conference.

Hawaii coach Michele Nagamine believes her team has finally made some headway. On Wednesday, the league backed her up on that assessment with a fifth-place selection in the league’s preseason poll, as voted by the Big West’s nine head coaches.

UH, which went 8-8-1 last season (3-4-1 BWC, T-fifth), was picked last (2012) and seventh place (2013) in its first two years in one of the strongest sports in the Big West. Both times, the Rainbow Wahine exceeded their expected finish in the standings.

Nagamine was especially satisfied with this year’s pick, given that her team lost three starting defenders to graduation and all-conference forward Tiana Fujimoto, last season’s top scorer, is redshirting 2014 while she recovers from foot surgery.

"And we get ranked fifth, in that conference, I was like, ‘wow, we must be doing something right,’" Nagamine said from the Big Island, where the team is taking a bonding trip in preparation for its Aug. 24 season opener vs. Arizona State.

"I think it’s a true testimony to the play style we’ve had the last couple of years," she said. "People don’t count us out. And it’s a little bit different than the previous two years, being voted last, and then seventh, and ahhh, maybe we get a little slighted here and there. But it’s going to be a really interesting year because everybody is in rebuilding mode in some way, shape or form."

Defending regular-season champion Cal Poly, featuring the nation’s top scorer in Elise Krieghoff (21 goals last season), was picked to win the league again. Last season’s Big West tournament champ, Cal State Fullerton, was tabbed fourth.

Now, a fifth-place projection means UH is still not expected to qualify for the four-team conference tournament, so the Rainbow Wahine will have to exceed expectations again if they are to fulfill their primary team objective and qualify for the first time.

Nagamine rated this year’s group as her closest knit since she took over the program in 2011.

"They’re not talking about winning the Big West, they’re not talking about finishing in last place," she said. "They just want to get to the Big West Conference tournament. They’re very committed to seeing their senior class out (with that)."

Sophomore Kama Pascua, who notched four goals as a freshman, was UH’s lone representative on the 11-player preseason all-conference team. The ‘Iolani product and younger sister of UH senior Krystal Pascua was an honorable mention in 2013’s postseason awards.

"I was a little surprised, because she’s had some recognition but she’s young yet," Nagamine said. "You know, I was thinking the name recognition might be a little more with Lidia (Battaglia) and Krystal. But you know, certainly Kama is very deserving and she is one of our up-and-coming players."

BIG WEST SOCCER POLL
As chosen by coaches