Two days after a promising start to its season, Hawaii couldn’t replicate the intensity.
Arielle Ship’s hat trick helped No. 18 California beat Hawaii 5-1 at the Outrigger Resorts Soccer Classic at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium on Sunday night. Ship scored the game’s first three goals. Kelly Fitzgerald and Guro Bergsvand also scored for California (1-1).
The Rainbow Wahine (0-2) led No. 3 Stanford for 70 minutes in Friday’s season opener before falling 2-1. Hawaii kept up with Stanford’s players, charging after balls and playing tough defense. That intensity was missing on Sunday.
"We learned a very valuable lesson tonight," said Hawaii coach Michele Nagamine. "We had a great game on Friday night and I think the letdown, fatigue, a lack of mental toughness, we came out really flat. We let them get a bunch of momentum and that’s brutal. We’re capable of so much more."
Ship had two goals in the first half, scoring in the third minute and in the 25th off an assist from Ifeoma Onumonu. She struck again in the 52nd minute, shooting into the low corner.
"Stanford was very methodical and Cal is high pressure, in your face," Nagamine said. "We struggled with the pace of the game and it didn’t help that a bunch of our players got 90 minutes the other night."
Hawaii got onto the scoreboard in the 84th minute. Freshman Raisa Strom-Okimoto’s free kick deflected off a California player inside the box. Junior Lauren Takai got to the ball and shot past goalkeeper Emily Boyd. It’s Takai’s second career goal.
"I saw the ball ricochet through her feet and I knew I had to get it in the goal somehow," Takai said.
Takai, a third-year walk-on from Pearl City, has started both games this season. Nagamine said Takai has worked hard to earn playing time.
"Her confidence as a freshman was very low and I don’t think she ever truly felt she belonged on the team," Nagamine said. "She was just happy to make the team and she had a turning point where we told her you shouldn’t be happy to be on the team because you can contribute in so many different ways. She really worked hard this summer. She has 100 percent earned the respect of every staff member, team member, and earned every single minute she’s got."
Takai said it means a lot to her to be on the field.
"I work hard on and off the field," Takai said. "I just know that I have to work so much harder than everyone else to have a chance to play, and show the team I can play there and they can trust me and the coaches can trust me."
Stanford (1-0) faces BYU (1-0) in Monday’s tournament finale.
Hawaii hosts Wyoming (0-0-1) on Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Outrigger Resorts No Ka Oi tournament.
