Mahalo for supporting Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Enjoy this free story!
For a handful of seconds last weekend, the Hawaii soccer team stared at disaster.
Disaster backed down.
By averting an 0-2 start at home to Big West Conference play with a come-from-behind win over UC Riverside on Sunday, the Rainbow Wahine went on the road this week feeling optimistic about their place in the league.
"When I look at the parity in the Big West, getting the (2-1 double overtime) win against Riverside the other night was huge for us, because it keeps us in the running," UH coach Michele Nagamine said. "I’m hoping we can have a really good showing on the road. It seems that we’ve fixed a lot of the road woes, so I just need to keep the women happy."
UH (6-6, 1-1 Big West) went 3-1 on its only road trip of the nonconference season, a two-week jaunt through Big Sky country.
The Wahine are 7-4-1 in their last 12 road matches dating to last season.
They will attempt to keep UC Santa Barbara (6-5-2, 0-2) at the bottom of the nine-team standings at 4 p.m. on Friday, then drive up the coast for a meeting against dangerous Cal Poly (6-7, 1-1) Sunday morning at 9.
"Two wins," said junior defender Lidia Battaglia of the team’s objective. "We’re coming off of a win right now, and I think that will get us going. These are like two very big-time games for us. We have a little history with Cal Poly, so we really want to win that game, and Santa Barbara we want to take advantage of their 0-2 record. Just capitalize on our opportunity."
Cal Poly edged UH in agonizing fashion a year ago, when eventual Big West Offensive Player of the Year Elise Krieghoff scored the golden goal with five minutes left in a 3-2 double OT Mustangs win at Waipio Soccer Stadium, keeping the Wahine winless (0-4) all-time against Poly. UH had held Krieghoff in check for about 105 minutes before the lapse.
Krieghoff again leads the conference in goals with 10. Half of those came in a five-goal spree against Fresno State last month. That’s as many as UH’s goals leader, midfielder Storm Kenui, has for the season.
"Just shut her down," Battaglia said of the defense’s mind-set. "Don’t give her that confidence, don’t give her the space, ’cause if she has space, she’ll capitalize."
UCSB is no gimme, either. Despite their poor start, the Gauchos are tied for the fewest goals allowed (12, or 0.9 per match) among Big West teams this season.
UH leads the conference in both goals scored (25) and allowed (32), but the team feels it has stabilized its back line with the emergence of freshman Dani Crawford at outer back. And sophomore Erica Young has maintained the starting goalkeeper job over Monk Berger; Young started the last five matches and went 3-2.
Offense generally hasn’t been a problem. Kenui, Krystal and Kama Pascua, and freshman Sonest Furtado have been the main scoring threats, but several other players have found the net, too.
"I think offensively we’re doing great," senior midfielder Ashley Haruki said. "I think we’re finding opportunities a lot, and we’re getting a different number of people to score. Which is really nice, having a lot of people able to finish around the box."