Hawaii soccer continues to have some big problems in the Big West.
UC Santa Barbara seized control of a mostly competitive match in the final 20 minutes, downing the Rainbow Wahine 3-0 in both teams’ conference opener on Thursday night at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium.
It’s a familiar feeling for UH (3-7-1, 0-1), which has yet to win a Big West opener in four tries.
After some shaky moments early, UH actually looked in control for about the first 20 minutes of the second half when it was still a scoreless game. But that all ended in an instant in the 72nd minute when UH defender Elise Wassner was whistled for a foul in the box.
UCSB (8-3-1, 1-0) was awarded a penalty kick and Amanda Ball converted the shot past goalkeeper Monk Berger.
"Elise said she didn’t push her, but we’re going to look at the film," UH coach Michele Nagamine said. "That kind of call, it just shifts the entire momentum of the game. We have to be better at responding when things don’t go our way. And plain and simple, some people just didn’t show up tonight. And that’s pretty criminal. That’s on us."
UCSB slid two more goals past Berger late. Jessica Parque scored from point-blank range on a goal-line cross from Ana Cruz in the 80th minute, then Mallory Hromatko scored her team-high sixth of the year when she was unmarked on a counterattack in the 87th.
UH now readies for a 5 p.m. Sunday match against Cal Poly (4-3-5, 0-1), which fell 1-0 to UC Davis in double overtime Thursday.
Junior midfielder Storm Kenui had five of UH’s nine shots, including all four of the team’s attempts in the first half.
"Just digesting it, taking it all in," Kenui said. "A lesson we have to learn. … We were possessing pretty well (in the second half). We were getting around them. It’s just … we couldn’t get close to the net."
UCSB won for the eighth time in nine games. A 2-0 win over Texas kicked off that streak.
Gauchos coach Paul Stumpf nodded his respect at Nagamine’s squad afterward.
He said some improved defensive play over that span — five of those decisions were shutouts — has keyed the run.
"To get three (standings) points on the road is just a great, great start for us," Stumpf said. "We had to weather a 15-or-so-minute storm where I thought Hawaii was the better team for a significant amount of time. We started to get our foot back on the ball a little bit … and maybe since we spent a little more time in the box, maybe we caught that break."
Senior defender Lidia Battaglia injured her shin two minutes into the game and did not return.
