Fresno conquers WAC by tipping Hawaii in OT

FRESNO, Calif. » The Hawaii Rainbow Wahine battled first-place Fresno State to a standstill for 90 minutes yesterday, but that wasn't enough.

The Bulldogs clinched the Western Athletic Conference regular-season soccer title and the top seed in this week's postseason tournament with a 1-0 overtime victory before a crowd of 1,945.

Hawaii ended up as the sixth seed in the WAC tournament and will play host Nevada in a first-round match Thursday.

It took FSU just 27 seconds of extra time to end the match. The Bulldogs kicked off and worked the ball to Aubrey Tennant. She sent a cross from the right side into the middle where Antonea Lugo booted it past Hawaii goalkeeper Kori Lu at 90:27.

Lu had seven saves and kept UH in the match with several outstanding stops. The sophomore made a diving block on Courtney Sobrero from right in front of the goal in the sixth minute, then stuffed Erika Sugano on a breakaway in the 63rd minute.

The shutout was the 14th of the season for Fresno State (12-5-2, 6-0-1 WAC) and the seventh time the Rainbow Wahine (8-10-2, 2-5) have been blanked.

The Wahine took all four of their shots in the second half. FSU goalkeeper Angie Larsen made a diving save on UH's best attempt, a shot by Taryn Fukuroku in the 53rd minute.

"We played exceedingly well considering all the starters that were out. What hurt is we gave up too much of the midfield," said Hawaii coach Pinsoom Tenzing.

Minus starting defenders Lehua Wood, Kelly McCloskey and Shawn Higa, Hawaii also played without center midfielder and playmaker Jessica Domingo.

Domingo was involved in a head-to-head collision in Friday's match at Nevada. She still had a headache yesterday and was not cleared to play by the team trainer.

"I'll be all right. I should be able to play Thursday," Domingo said.

Ambree Ako, recovering from a sprained right ankle, played just 21 minutes in the second half as Tenzing wants her as healthy as possible for the conference tournament.

In a match at Boise, Idaho, Annie Tom (Mililani '03) scored the first goal for Boise State and the Broncos edged Louisiana Tech 2-1 to move past UH into fifth place. BSU plays San Jose State in the other first-round match Thursday.

Fresno State and Utah State earned first-round byes.