Saturday, October 31, 1998

Aloha game
for four UH seniors

By Al Chase
Star-Bulletin

Four members of the most successful Hawaii women's soccer team ever will play their final match for the green and white tomorrow afternoon.

Seniors Tui Moe and Tricia Nishikawa and juniors Amanda Paterson and Valerie Marciel will start when the Wahine play Hawaii Pacific at 5 p.m. at Ala Wai Field.

It's the season finale for Hawaii's women's college soccer teams.

Moe was the first local player to be recruited following her Punahou career. Nishikawa transferred to Hawaii from HPU after her freshman season.

Paterson came to UH from the Australian National Team and had three years of eligibility. Marciel did not compete until her sophomore year at Manoa.

Moe, a midfielder, defender and sometimes goal scorer, started 71 of 73 matches for the Wahine. In her career, she has eight goals and four assists.

"I had a good four years and I'm happy it's done. I believe we paved a good road for those coming in," said Moe, a history major who may switch to English before graduating next fall.

Picking a highlight was easy for Moe. "Every time we win, it's a highlight. It's such a good feeling and I can't just pick out one."

Paterson, who will graduate with a degree in communications in a year and half, had a great first season in the goal, then battled injuries the past two seasons.

"I really enjoyed my first year, making first team WAC and whatever else I made," the all-time UH shutout leader said. "That was cool. That was personally very satisfying. I don't think I've ever played so well in my life."

But the injuries kept her from training year round and she felt her play suffered because of that.

"I'm a bit disappointed I wasn't able to carry on with the form I had the first year," Paterson said. "After the first surgery here, my level dropped and I never really got it back."

Nishikawa, a communications major, said she will remember her teammates, the fans and finally being able to score goals.

"The players stick up for you and make practice fun," she said. "I got a lot more scoring done this year. In previous years, I hardly scored, especially in the WAC games where it actually counted. This year things have turned out good for me."

She will leave the program as its most prolific striker, holding the single-season and career goal-scoring records.

Marciel will graduate in May with a degree in family resources. She hasn't decided if she'll start work on a masters next year or at what school. She has a year of eligibility left, but doubts she'll be back.

The left outside defender's lasting memories are of her teammates.

"Meeting all the new girls that come in and being able to play with girls like Tricia, Tui and Amanda," Marciel said when asked about a career highlight. "I just think we developed a lot of friendships. That's something I'm always going to remember."

FINAL NOTES: KFVE (Channel 5) will televise the match live. UH (10-7) leads the series, 3-0, but HPU (5-5) has narrowed the difference each year down to a 1-0 loss in 1997.

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