A sight rarely seen on the pitch transpired at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium on Thursday.
It was 10-on-10 madness in the Ohana Hotels and Resorts No Ka Oi, as both Hawaii and Northern Illinois had a player dismissed from play for receiving two yellow cards. In the end, the Rainbow Wahine scrapped for a 3-2 victory — their first of the 2014 season.
Goals by Kama Pascua, Dani Crawford and Storm Kenui staked UH (1-2) to a 3-1 lead with nearly all of the second half remaining.
The tourney hosts were cruising until junior defender Lidia Battaglia was issued two yellow cards on the same play, forcing the Wahine to play a woman down the final 23 minutes.
"I’m thrilled to get the win, but I’m so disappointed the game was degraded to that," said UH coach Michele Nagamine, who couldn’t recall the last time she saw a 10-on-10 finish to a match. "It’s tough for the kids to play through. We’re a physical team, they’re a physical team."
Battaglia will miss Monday’s match against defending WAC champion Seattle (1-1). In all, seven yellow cards were issued by referee Casey Abe.
"I was just really disappointed that we lost Lidia … there was a little dissent there on Lidia’s part and she learned a very valuable lesson," Nagamine said. "And they lost a player (Gwen Sabo). You just never want to see stuff like that happen."
UH gave up the first score of the game to NIU (0-3) of the Mid-American Conference but came back with three straight goals.
Pascua had the first for UH — the preseason All-Big West forward’s first of the season — when she got a defender on her back, spun away and left-footed a shot in from 18 yards.
"I think we came together and played for each other," Pascua said. "Of course we’re going to get each other’s backs on the field, ’cause that’s what we do. We picked each other up when we knew someone was losing it. When I saw my teammates losing it, it made me want to be better and stay positive for them."
Freshman reserve Crawford headed in a rebound in a scrum in the final minute of the first half for her first career score for a 2-1 lead at the break.
Just two minutes into the second half, Kenui’s first career goal came a fast break and assist from freshman Sonest Furtado just inside the 18-yard box.
"I’ve been waiting a long time for that," said Kenui, a starting midfielder last year as a true freshman. "Last year I felt like I was struggling … and this year it was a No. 1 priority of mine (to be a scoring threat). When I actually got the ball, I felt like I blacked out for a minute because it was like, ‘K, I have to make it, I have to make it.’ "
The Huskies made it a one-goal game with 8:41 to play when UH could not clear the ball despite multiple chances. It lent a tense tenor to the game’s final few minutes, but the Wahine were able to maintain possession for long stretches to deny the Huskies a chance for a tying score.
UH gets three days of recovery and practice time before resuming the tournament. Seattle and NIU play on Saturday at 7 p.m.
