UC Irvine holds off Wahine as early goal holds up

The Hawaii women’s soccer team had 59 minutes to find an equalizer, but the Rainbow Wahine couldn’t get the shots to fall as they lost 1-0 to UC Irvine on Sunday at the Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium.

Laila El Behery scored the go-ahead goal for UC Irvine in the 31st minute. Alyssa Moore sent a cross into the box to El Behery, who knocked it past UH keeper Sophie Augustin and into the bottom left of the goal.

Augustin was injured on the final play of the first half and was replaced by sophomore Brianna Chirpich. Augustin and Chirpich each finished with one save, while UCI keeper Glo Hinojosa spent the entire match in goal and finished with four saves.

The Rainbow Wahine outshot the Anteaters 10-6, including four shots on goal compared to UC Irvine’s two. The Wahine also had seven corner kick opportunities, while the Anteaters had just two. UC Irvine made up the difference defensively, out-saving UH 4-1.

Brynn Mitchell led the Rainbow Wahine with four shot attempts, including two shots on goal.

Despite the loss, Hawaii (3-4-3, 2-2-1) maintained control of the Big West Conference lead, with seven points. UC Riverside, Cal Poly and Cal State Fullerton are in joint second with six points each. UC Irvine is 4-4-3 and 1-0-2.

Hawaii will head back out on the road after splitting the two-game homestand. The Rainbow Wahine will open a two-game road trip against CSU Bakersfield on Thursday at 4 p.m.