Rainbow Wahine soccer team aiming to put on finishing kick to close home season

Finishing has been the theme of the week on the University of Hawaii soccer practice field.

Following a 1-1 draw with CSU Bakersfield on Sunday, the Rainbow Wahine ended their practice session on Tuesday morning with a drill dedicated to finishing off scoring opportunities.

In the wider view, the Wahine need a strong finish over their final three matches of the regular season to qualify for the Big West Tournament.

So although the postseason is still 10 days away, “we’re taking (UC) Riverside as our playoff game,” UH assistant coach Kaula Rowe said of today’s match with the Highlanders at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium.

UH (5-4-3, 2-2-3 Big West) enters the 7 p.m. match with UC Riverside (2-6-7, 0-4-3) with nine points in the conference standings (three per win, one per draw), tied with UC Santa Barbara for seventh place, and one point behind CSU Bakersfield for the sixth and final spot in the Big West Tournament.

Today’s match in Waipahu, the midpoint of a three-match homestand with the senior day game against Cal State Fullerton on Sunday remaining on the home schedule. The Wahine close the regular season on the road at UC Irvine on Oct. 27 with the first-round of the tournament set for Oct. 30.

“It’s crazy to think we only have a couple of games left,” said UH forward Kelci Sumida, one of nine seniors or graduate students on the roster. “So we want to make the most out of our time we have left here and turn that into positive results.”

UH opened the homestand with Sunday’s tie with with CSUB, which allowed the Roadrunners to maintain their edge over UH in the standings. The Wahine took 21 shots in the match to CSUB’s five with Sumida scoring UH’s goal on a header off a corner kick from Krista Peterson.

Their 13 shots in the second half came up empty, leading to the emphasis on executing in the final third.

“Finishing is one of the hardest things to do,” Rowe said. “So for us it’s just continuing to work on things like that and give them opportunities to read the game and hopefully that can translate for us into goals.”

Sumida finished off her second goal of the season on Sunday and has assisted on a team-high four. She limped off the field during the first half against CSUB after twisting her ankle, but was back on the field for the second half and continues to grind through the late stages of the schedule.

“Kelci is probably one of our most resilient players,” Rowe said. “She’s going to lead by example. She’s going to put her heart on the line, she’s going to go into every tackle, she’s going to go in to every play with her full self.

“At the end of the day she’s getting double- and triple-teamed and she still manages to put away (shots). So for us, that says a lot about her character and her willingness to push through a lot of the battles that she’s going to face on the field.”