Saturday, October 17, 1998

Wahine fall,
one second shy of tie

By Al Chase
Star-Bulletin

The finality of a sudden-death, overtime goal in soccer is magnified when it occurs seconds before the referee whistles an official end to hostilities.

Hawaii came within a second of holding No. 8 San Diego State to a 1-1 tie in a Western Athletic Conference Pacific Division women's match at Ala Wai Field last night.

Then the ball bounced dangerously once too many times unimpeded across the goal mouth. Waiting on the Ala Wai Canal side of the Ewa goal was SDSU's Susan Mendez, who used her head on the corner kick's third bounce to poke it into the net at 119:59 -- one second before game's end.

The fast pace of the match wasn't hindered by intermittent showers nor did the pace slacken during the 29 minutes, 59 seconds of overtime.

A play Hawaii (7-6) uses with success often -- the offside trap -- misfired late in the first half on Kelly Grogg's free kick. With the ball in the air and the UH defenders moving out expecting an offsides call, Katie Hamilton was left alone. She lobbed the ball over Wahine goalkeeper Demarre Sanchez into the net for a 1-0 SDSU lead at 37:13.

"We practice the play but the kids do it themselves. They call it when they feel it's right," UH head coach Pinsoom Tenzing said.

But, with regulation time running out, UH's Erin Schremser took a free kick almost from the same spot. It bounced over an Aztec defender to Jennifer Starsiak on the far side. She controlled and crossed the ball back to Tricia Nishikawa, who scored her sixth goal of the season at 86:20.

Sanchez, who stole goals from SDSU shooters in one-on-one situations four times with brilliant stops, finished with 13 saves.

"I can't think of anyone who didn't play well. I'm very proud of the kids," Tenzing said.

With the Wahine still seeking their first WAC victory, Nishikawa doesn't think last night's difficult result will affect UH in tomorrow's 7 p.m. match against Nevada-Las Vegas.

"I don't see a problem," Nishikawa said. "We all play for each other, depend on each other and we're not going to give up."

"Sunday is a different game," Tenzing said. "I'm always confident at home."

Nishikawa's goal put her No. 1 on the single-season list and she is tied at the top of the career list with Nicki Arakawa at 12.

Monday's nonconference match against Cal Lutheran (10-2) is on the UH campus at 4 p.m.

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