UH SOCCER
Rainbow Wahine blank Broncos
The Hawaii soccer team stayed perfect and unscored upon in Western Athletic Conference matches with a 3-0 victory over Boise State yesterday.
The Rainbow Wahine (5-6-2, 2-0) had to protect a 1-0 lead for 52 minutes before scoring twice in the last 11 minutes to the delight of 1,108 fans at the Waipio Peninsula Soccer Park Stadium.
This was a different Wahine team from the one that played last Friday.
"I think we just calmed down and came out confident," senior Natalie Groenewoud said.
The Wahine established control early by aggressively going for the ball and having their passing game in gear.
The first two Hawaii shots failed to find the net.
Natasha Kai was wide left on an 8-footer at 5:02 off a delicate pass from Adria Campbell. Kelly McCloskey drilled a low 23-yard shot from the left side that Broncos goalkeeper Michaela Morrison saved with a diving stop at 14:20.
The Wahine kept the pressure on and took a 1-0 lead at 16:43 on a goal by the outside right midfielder Groenewoud.
Groenewoud controlled a cross from the left by Campbell with a chest trap, then volleyed the ball into the net with her right foot.
Morrison saved another goal with a diving stab of Kai's shot from 7 yards out at 17:11.
The Wahine held a 12-1 shot advantage at halftime.
The Broncos forced the action to start the second half, managing two corner kicks, but did not put a shot on goal.
Boise State's first shot on goal came at 64:18, when Randi Baker sent a low shot toward the left post from the right that Mahie Atay grabbed with a diving save.
At 72:16 Sophie Parrish made a perfect back pass from the right end line to a wide-open Kristin Hall, 7 yards in front of the goal, but her one-time effort sailed over the crossbar.
"That's been a problem for us. We have trouble finishing," BSU coach Steve Lucas said. "We were bad in the first half, better in the second half, but we're going to have to make some decisions on who is in and who is out (of the lineup)."
The Wahine finally relieved some of the pressure on their defense with a goal by Jessica Domingo at 78:50.
The sequence started with Campbell making a move past the right defender and drilling a rising shot that Morrison could only parry to the left. The unmarked Domingo closed in and planted a left-footed shot into the net.
"This was a big match for us and it came to us easily," UH coach Pinsoom Tenzing said. "We had a huge letdown in the second half and played too defensively, which made Domingo's goal so important."
The final goal came on a head shot into the upper-right corner by Kai at 89:45 off a corner kick by her sister Krisha.
"We had a lot of opportunities and missed a lot of connections in the midfield but knew if we kept trying we would score," said Natasha. "They took me out of the game (with one-on-one marking), but that gave more opportunities to other players and two scored."
One reason it took so long for UH to score a second goal was the defensive play of BSU sweeper Ali Tsuchida. The Punahou graduate cut off numerous UH passes and rarely lost a ball in a one-on-one matchup.
Kori Lu and Mahie Atay combined on a shutout for the second consecutive game. Atay has not been scored on for a school-record 468 consecutive minutes, a streak that began last year.