WAHINE SOCCER
Wahine drop another on the road
SAN DIEGO » It took a half for the Rainbow Wahine soccer team to get going against San Diego State yesterday, but that was too late.
The Aztecs (8-5) took a 2-0 lead at the half and held on for a 2-1 win in the nonconference match at the SDSU Sports Deck. The Aztecs are 5-0 against Hawaii.
"We were a little shell-shocked from the Cal State Fullerton match Friday and played too defensively in the first half," said Hawaii coach Pinsoom Tenzing.
The Aztecs scored their first goal at 22:21. Jen Mello got behind the UH defense and put a shot from the left side of the box in by the upper far post. It was her fifth goal of the season.
"We gave away two easy goals, but we thought the first one was offside," Tenzing said.
San Diego State increased its lead just before the half when Eric Sutton received a pass from Amanda Swalder. Sutton had time to trap the ball, turn and put a low shot into the net at 44:30.
"We played really well in the second half. We were more aggressive in terms of getting our offense going," Tenzing said.
The Wahine (3-6-2) cut their deficit in half when Shawn Higa sent a long ball forward that an SDSU defender tried to head back to her goalkeeper. However, Natasha Kai intercepted and scored her sixth goal of the season with a shot inside the right post.
Hawaii is 0-4-1 on two roads trips to California this season.
The Wahine return home today and start preparing tomorrow for their Western Athletic Conference opener Friday against Idaho at 7 p.m. at the Waipio Peninsula Soccer Park Stadium.