A wild road win put the Hawaii soccer team on the cusp of qualifying for its first Big West tournament.

The Rainbow Wahine scored first but then had to rally from down a goal in the final 30 minutes of a 3-2 victory at UC Davis on Thursday, dramatically increasing the likelihood that UH (6-7-3, 4-1-2 Big West) will finish in the top four of the conference with one regular-season game to go.

“When I look at our body of work, I’m happy. I’m happy for the team,” coach Michele Nagamine said in a postgame phone interview. “But we know it’s not done yet. … I’m thrilled for (the kids) that they get to be in this kind of position. We talked about how to handle pressure and looking at pressure in a different way, as more of a positive than a negative, because when you have pressure on you there’s an opportunity to do something good.”

After Wahine freshman Kelci Sumida struck in the 13th minute, the Aggies got back in the game on two penalty-kick goals converted by Janae Gonzalez.

Sophomore forward Kayla Ryan delivered with her team-best sixth and seventh goals of the season on set-ups by teammates, first on a give from Sumida in the 62nd minute and then on a penalty kick drawn by Kayla Watanabe in the 75th.

UH hung on to win over mathematically eliminated Davis (7-11, 2-6) despite playing the final nine minutes a player down. Sumida, a freshman, was ejected with a straight red card for retaliating after contact on a no-call.

“Anytime you have three penalty kicks in a game, that’s a pretty good indication that emotions are running high and getting a little out of control,” Nagamine said.

The Wahine sit at 14 points in the standings but still have not clinched a tourney berth. However, they might have one by the time of Sunday’s noon regular-season finale at Long Beach State, based on other results around the league today.

Sumida will be ineligible to play in UH’s game at LBSU on Sunday, and possibly a match longer, Nagamine said.