For the first time in the 2014 soccer season, Hawaii gets to pick on someone its own size.

Actually, the Northern Illinois Huskies of the Mid-American Conference have a height advantage on Hawaii. (That goes for just about any team that stands back-to-back with the Rainbow Wahine.) But in terms of resources and performance thus far, UH and NIU stack up comparably on paper for Thursday’s 7 p.m. opener of the Ohana Hotels and Resorts No Ka Oi tournament.

UH (0-2) dropped contests against power conference teams Arizona State and Texas in the Outrigger Resorts Shootout, which concluded Monday.

This Ohana tournament — the second of three events at home to open the season — presents the Wahine with a new challenge: instead of playing two matches 24 hours apart, they’ll have three days off between NIU (0-2) and Monday’s match against Seattle (1-1).

"This week, we expect two really good opponents, but not quite the level of Texas and Arizona State," UH coach Michele Nagamine said. "So I think getting a chance to see (our players) in that environment is going to be very eye-opening for us."

She described Northern Illinois as "a blue-collar, hard-working team. So when I read the scouting report on them, they sounded kind of like us. So, I think it will be interesting to see how we match up with them."

UH fell flat against Arizona State, but lived up to its mantra of "get chance" against Texas, playing the much larger Longhorns evenly most of the way before losing 2-1.

Over the first tournament, no player better epitomized the team’s slogan than sophomore midfielder Lauren Takai.

The walk-on out of Pearl City High played 43 minutes against ASU — more than five times her total minutes played her entire freshman season. She capped off the game with a putback goal on a shot by Storm Kenui.

Improbably, Takai is tied for the team lead in goals at this early stage.

"It was a big shocker," Takai said. "I just saw Storm take it. We practiced it one day, and I knew I had to follow."

After a season in which she was almost exclusively a spectator, Takai made it a goal to improve her strength and confidence in the offseason to prove she belonged.

"I knew this summer I had to work and lift and become stronger, because when I play on the field, I can’t be pushed around. I know I have to play fast," Takai said.

Nagamine, who has a soft spot for unheralded local players, has made the 5-foot-4 Takai one of her first options off the bench for relief at midfield, in large part thanks to the hard work she put in.

"Lauren Takai is pretty much that bread-and-butter player," the coach said. "She’s got good positioning, she’s patient, calm in her approach and demeanor. So, this kind of settles us down in the midfield."

The steadiness is welcome. Through the two matches, UH opponents have taken 18 shots on goal, compared to just seven for the Wahine, and earned more than twice the amount of corner kicks.

But one of the shots that connected for UH was a beauty by senior Krystal Pascua. That left-footed ball in traffic against Texas, bending in at a sharp angle from about 22 yards out, had coaches from both teams raving.

"I didn’t see anyone up there open because the box was kind of packed," Pascua said. "So I was like, ‘K, just turn and shoot. Turn and shoot.’ "

Pascua notched five assists as a junior and attempted 40 shots, but wasn’t able to net one. Getting that off her back early in her final season was a relief.

"I had a good feeling (it was good)," she said with a laugh. "I was like, ‘This one needs to go in!’"

The co-captain assisted on the team’s only other goal to this point, a cross to Alexis Colacchio vs. ASU.