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After a year of preparation and two productive dress rehearsals, the waiting ends tonight for the Hawaii soccer team.
With the Rainbow Wahine sidelined since the cancellation of the 2020 season, the anticipation for the first regular-season match in nearly two years was evident in the buzz around the Manoa practice field Thursday morning.
“When you train at 6:30 in the morning it’s sometimes hit or miss as far as energy goes,” UH coach Michele Nagamine said Thursday. “But they really brought some great energy and we’re really excited to play.”
The Rainbow Wahine open their return season by facing North Texas in the Outrigger Soccer Kickoff today at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium.
South Dakota State faces Idaho State at 4:30 p.m., with the Hawaii-North Texas match scheduled for 7. The Wahine cap the weekend by taking on South Dakota State on Sunday.
No spectators will be allowed at WPSS for at least the first tournament of the season.
Today’s match will be UH’s first since a 3-0 loss to Cal State Fullerton in the Big West tournament on Nov. 7, 2019. The conference canceled fall sports for the 2020-21 season, and although the Wahine haven’t played a match in close to two years, Nagamine was impressed by their growth through the pandemic-related adversity.
“We were hopeful in the spring that the fall season would actually happen and I think the players really did a great job of just keeping their eyes on the prize,” she said. “They knew that if they did the work then good things would happen.
“A lot of it was out of our control, of course, but I think they’ve maintained a level of positivity and have been very supportive of each other.”
The Wahine were voted sixth in the Big West’s preseason coaches poll after making the program’s first appearance in the conference tournament in 2019. They had two exhibition matches to get back into a competitive setting and came away with 1-0 wins over Division II Tusculum on Aug. 17 and Hawaii Pacific on Sunday at the Lower Campus field. UH took 36 shots over the two matches, putting 15 on goal, compared to just four combined for Tusculum and HPU.
Sophomore Kelci Sumida, a member of the 2019 Big West All-Freshman team, assisted on sophomore Taylor Caporus’ goal in the 82nd minute against Tusculum and scored the lone goal in the 53rd minute against HPU off an assist from Trini Quiroz.
“You could tell it had been a long time since we last played a competitive match,” Nagamine said. “But I think the kids did a great job of making sure they stayed focused, especially when you are creating a lot of opportunities, but it’s not going in the back of the net, to stay on task and to stay focused and to stay positive.
“I thought in and around the 18-yard box and getting into that final third, we’ve become a lot more creative . … Finally getting to play somebody else helped us to understand some of the things we’re doing in training and actually applying that.”
The exhibitions were relatively quiet for UH goalkeeper Lauren Marquez, a junior who steps into the role vacated by All-Big West goalkeeper Alexis Mata, who is now playing professionally in Spain.
Marquez shares captain duties with junior forward Kayla Ryan and sophomore midfielder Eliza Ammendolia, both members of the preseason All-Big West team.
While the returnees provide leadership, Nagamine said the freshman and sophomore classes have raised the intensity in camp and “we’ve noticed the physicality in practice is a lot higher than we’re accustomed to seeing.”
“The volume level has been cranked up at practice and I’m really happy that they are able to have that physicality and yet step off the field and they’re laughing,” she said.
Nagamine expects a physical test tonight against a North Texas program that won the Conference USA championship in 2019 and went 7-3-1 in the spring. The Mean Green began the fall with a 1-1 tie with No. 9 Texas A&M on Aug. 11 and posted wins over Southern and Houston Baptist by a combined score of 9-0 to start the regular season.
“They take a lot of pride in the fact that they’re going to be one of the most physical teams in Division I,” Nagamine said. “That’s what they’re known for in the soccer circles and they put out a quality product.
“I think if we come ready to play and stick to our game plan, it’s going to be a great matchup.”
Outrigger Soccer Kickoff
At Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium
>> When: Today and Sunday
>> TV/Radio: none
Today — South Dakota State vs. Idaho State, 4:30 p.m.; North Texas vs. Hawaii, 7 p.m.
Sunday— North Texas vs. Idaho State, 2:30 p.m.; South Dakota State vs. Hawaii, 5 p.m.
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