The Hawaii soccer team has another chance to take the next step on senior night.
A first Big West tournament berth was there for the taking for the Rainbow Wahine in their 2018 home finale, but UH wasn’t ready to claim it, falling to a last-place team in wrenching fashion. Now the 2019 edition, unbeaten in conference play, is again positioned well heading into today’s 5 p.m. matchup with UC Santa Barbara.
There are still two road games to come, but upstart UH (5-6-3, 3-0-2 BWC) can all but punch its ticket to the four-team playoff if it can defeat the Gauchos (6-4-5, 2-1-2) at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium.
Goalkeeper Alexis Mata, midfielders Mikaelah Johnson-Griggs and Kiri Dale, and forwards Kayla Watanabe, Madison Moore and Tia Furuta will be honored after the battle with the Gauchos.
“There is some pressure, but I think the team is very calm this year in their approach to senior night,” coach Michele Nagamine said. “The seniors, they’re a very mature group of kids. … They’ve been with us through some pretty trying times, both growing as a program, changing the culture, and it’s been fantastic that they’ve been able to have the kind of season so far that we wanted them to have.”
UH, a young side that was picked to finish seventh of nine teams in the preseason, has surprised in league play by contending for its first Big West regular-season crown. The Wahine have 11 points in the standings, a point behind Cal State Fullerton and Cal State Northridge.
Mata, a five-year player and three-year starter, is the face of the team. She has five shutouts this season and 12 career, tying her for second in the Wahine record books with Kori Lu (2005-08).
“I could’ve never expected to have had the career that I’ve had. But we’re not done yet,” said Mata, of Woodland, Calif. “We still have the tournament on the horizon and this team wants to get there. And I think we (will).”
A 1-1 draw in double overtime against Cal Poly on Thursday did not hurt the team’s chances, but did not help, either.
“Definitely coming off Cal Poly it was like a wake-up call that from start to finish we need to be on or else good teams are going to punish us,” Mata said. “I think the dialing in starts now and we’re ready to go.”
Watanabe, a Mid-Pacific Institute alumna and graduate transfer from Idaho, helped UH get to this point by scoring both of her Wahine goals in a 3-0 home win over UC Irvine on Oct. 10.
“I’m just so thankful I got this opportunity,” Watanabe said. “Going to Idaho right out of high school, I didn’t expect that this would be such a big deal. It’s kind of hard to put into words how much this means to me.”
Johnson-Griggs, of Beaverton, Ore., has three goals and three assists in her four-year Wahine career. Dale, an Australian, came in as a transfer from Iona College and has three assists in three years at UH. Moore, a Kauai native and transfer from Long Beach State, started two matches this year.
Furuta, a fourth-year junior out of Mililani High, recently decided to go out with the seniors. She hasn’t played since 2017 due to an injury, but had a goal and two assists in 2016 in being named to the Big West All-Freshman team.
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SENIOR NIGHT
>> Who: UC Santa Barbara (6-4-5, 2-1-2 Big West) at Hawaii (5-6-3, 3-0-2), 5 p.m.
>> Where: Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium
>> TV: Spectrum Sports
