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A devastating defeat kept the Hawaii soccer team home for another year.
With the program’s first Big West tournament berth on the line, the Rainbow Wahine were denied by nemesis Cal State Fullerton, which played effective spoiler in a 2-1 win on UH’s senior day Sunday at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium.
Last-place Fullerton (4-12-3, 1-5-2 BWC), a perennial contender in a down year, went ahead twice on counterattacks, from Atlanta Primus in the 25th minute and Nano Oronoz in the 67th, and survived shots from UH (9-7-1, 4-4) down the stretch.
“It was pretty tough. I thought we were the better team,” coach Michele Nagamine said. “We have been good all year long, especially in the back. I thought we looked a little out of sorts today. … We knew this game was ours to lose, and that’s exactly what we did. We beat ourselves today.”
UH, which was picked last of nine teams in the preseason, surprised the league by positioning itself for a run into the top four and was in good shape to make the tourney trip to Irvine, Calif., after a 2-0 win over UC Riverside on Thursday.
But UC Davis beat Riverside 1-0 earlier Sunday to reach 14 points in the standings, meaning the Wahine needed a fifth league win to get to 15 points and get in.
The Wahine finished alone in fifth, their highest standing in seven years of Big West play.
“It didn’t go the way we wanted, but I’m super proud of my team and how far we came,” said a tearful Raisa Strom-Okimoto, who led the conference with 12 goals in her senior year. “We were ranked last in the conference and we made it this far.”
Senior Sarah Lau tied it up at 1 in the 58th minute when she spun into a chip shot inside the box. With under three minutes left, with UH down a goal again and scrambling to get it to overtime, Strom-Okimoto drew a penalty kick.
UH tabbed Lau — who hadn’t attempted a penalty kick in her career — to take the shot, based on her conversion rate in practices leading up to the game. Her attempt was high.
“I was pretty calm. It’s just a crappy feeling, just knowing that shot could make or break our season,” Lau said. “I came up too high and came over.
“This is sports, this is life. Things don’t always go our way,” she added. “It’s only going to make (the young players) better for next year.”
Time expired without another prime opportunity.
“It’s that moment where you hold on and hope,” said Fullerton coach Demian Brown, who is 7-0 against UH. “Them missing the PK, I think is a heartbreak for them. But for us, at the end of the season and the last game and moment of the season, we finally got lucky.”
Nagamine said it didn’t come down to the missed penalty kick.
“We had sitters in and around the box. We had 19 shots,” she said. “We had more than enough opportunities to finish. I’m proud of them and I thank Raisa and Sarah for all their amazing leadership. Basically they have put us back on the soccer map. This is the most competitive we’ve been in the Big West Conference since we joined it. So we’ll be back strong next year.”
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