WAHINE SOCCER
Rainbow Wahine shut out Flashes
The Hawaii Rainbow Wahine scored three first-half goals and made them stand up for a 3-0 win over Kent State last night in the opening match of the Outrigger Hotels & Resorts Classic.
Jessica Domingo, Taryn Fukuroku and Ambree Ako recorded the goals before a crowd of 745 at the Waipio Peninsula Soccer Park Stadium.
The Wahine (2-1) put pressure on the Kent State defense early to create scoring chances by playing the ball wide up the field. A shot by Kelli-Anne Chang in the sixth minute cleared the crossbar and Fukuroku's effort was wide right at 7:27.
The tactics paid off at 9:48 when Domingo found the upper-right corner of the goal with a 35-yard shot. Her shot was set up by Ako, who chest-trapped a high ball to her feet, then back-passed to Domingo.
"There was space where I could trap and shoot," Domingo said. "It was one of those times where, when you shot, you felt it was a good shot whether it went in or not. It went in. I saw the upper corner, but wasn't aiming directly for it."
The Wahine took a 2-0 lead 5 minutes later. Chang sent a corner kick from the left that sailed toward the back post over the hands of KU goalkeeper Alicia Fernandez to a waiting Fukuroku. She redirected the ball into the net from 2 yards out.
Ako's successful penalty kick at 30:20 put UH up 3-0. The penalty was awarded after Fukuroku, making a solo run inside from the right between three defenders, was tripped in the box.
Both coaches, UH's Pinsoom Tenzing and Kent State's Rob Marinaro, made numerous substitutions the remainder of the half.
The Golden Flashes (1-1-1) never really adjusted in the first 45 minutes to UH's use of the whole field and spent a lot of time chasing while the Wahine were content to let the ball do the work.
Hawaii outshot Kent State 8-1 in the half.
"We were creating spaces and the kids were running into them," said Tenzing. "Our ball movement was good. I'm really pleased with that."
The only KU shot on goal came just before intermission on a free kick from 21 yards away by Jackie Barath. Her waist-high shot around the defensive wall was handled easily by UH goalkeeper Kori Lu.
The Golden Flashes were more dedicated to the offside game in the second half and were able to blunt several Wahine forays toward the KU goal.
"I thought we got off to a slow start. You have to give UH credit. They came out firing, are very athletic and we were giving them too much space," said Marinaro.
Brittney Aiwohi played the second half in the goal to share the shutout with Lu. She has not played soccer since her senior season at Sacred Hearts and finished four years with the Rainbow Wahine basketball team last spring.
UH finished with an 11-2 advantage in shots and has allowed only six shots in the first three matches.
Note: The Classic continues tonight at 7 when Kent State plays Winthrop and concludes tomorrow with a match between UH and Winthrop.