For the second time in three days, a goal allowed in the final minutes of a game sunk the Hawaii soccer team.
UH battled South Dakota State to a standstill for nearly all of the finale of its three-game road trip through the Dakotas. But the Jackrabbits of the Summit League got a second-effort rebound goal from Leah Manuleleua in the 85th minute to top the Rainbow Wahine 1-0 on Tuesday evening in Merillion, S.D.
The Wahine (2-4-1) were shut out for the third time this season in getting outshot 14-5. They went 1-2 on their trip, dropping the last two in frustrating fashion — they gave up an 88th-minute equalizer then lost in double overtime at North Dakota on Sunday — after winning the first leg at North Dakota State.
UH coach Michele Nagamine called it another “winnable” game in a postgame phone interview and said that the shot count of SDSU (3-3) shocked her.
“We never felt like we were chasing the game. We never felt like we were behind,” Nagamine said. “We set the pace pretty well. We got forward today. We gapped out a little bit between the midfields and the forwards in the first half. … We need to start pushing people up higher. So we’ve got some tinkering to do. We played everybody again today, because we’re still searching for our identity as a team.”
UH might play its annual alumnae game at 5 p.m. Saturday at the UH Lower Campus field, depending on availability of alumnae.
Stewart and Blomfield win in New York
Hawaii’s Kaniela Stewart and Honolua Blomfield won the first ever World Surf League Men and Women’s Longboard Classic New York in Long Beach on Tuesday.
For the 18-year-old Stewart, it was his first-ever WSL victory, earning a 14.34 in the final over Jefson Silva’s 10.33. Blomfield took down No. 1 Chloe Calmon in a tight final, winning 12.73 over Calmon’s 12.54.
HPU, Chaminade earn PacWest honors
Chaminade freshman Alena Albertson and Hawaii Pacific senior Lukas Motschmann, junior Robyn Kalternbrunn and freshman Jona Bodirsky all earned PacWest cross country honors.
Albertson became the first Silversword to earn an award since 2006, getting the cross country women’s Freshman of the Week honor. She placed 19th overall at last week’s University of Hawaii Big Wave Invitational with a time of 20:10.00.
The Sharks’ Motschmann was named the PacWest men’s Runner of the Week and Kalternbrunn earned the women’s Runner of the Week. Motschmann won the Big Wave Invitational, finishing the 5K course in 15:10. Kaltenbrunn was the top Division II runner in the women’s contest at the same event with a time of 19:41.
Bodirsky earned men’s Freshman of the Week for the second week in a row. He placed second behind Motschmann at the Big Wave Invitational with a time of 16:27.
