Wahine fall to Cardinal
By Al Chase
Star-Bulletin
The Hawaii women's soccer team held nationally ranked Stanford scoreless for the first 60 minutes yesterday, but couldn't maintain that defensive intensity, falling, 3-1, to the Cardinal.
Cardinal sophomore midfielder Martha West pounced on a low clearing pass 25 yards out, faked one UH defender, and left-footed a drive into the upper right-hand corner at the one-hour mark.
Two more goals by Callie Withers at 70 and 74 minutes gave Stanford (2-1) a comfortable lead.
The Wahine (1-2) finally scored when striker Dawn Dasher was taken down in the box and Leila Wai converted the penalty kick.
Following West's goal, the Wahine almost tied it with their best scoring chance. Erin Schremser's through ball put Jennifer Starsiak in the clear, but her shot past a diving Carly Smolak was a foot outside the right post.
Stanford head coach Steve Swanson wasn't surprised or concerned with the 0-0 halftime score. He said it took time for his players to adjust to the hard field.
"The ball runs quite fast. You have that and a good organized midfield defense," Swanson said.
"We just needed to keep the pressure on them and I felt something would break. I felt our depth, we've got quite a bit, came through today."
As the first half wound down, it was obvious UH's attacking midfielders were being called upon to play more defense. When the Wahine did get the ball to the strikers, it usually was a one-on-four or two-on-four against Cardinal defenders-- not good odds.
"That's what better teams make you do. It wasn't by design," said UH head coach Pinsoom Tenzing.
"I am exceedingly pleased. I thought we played hard. We put everything out there. We couldn't match them skillwise but I think, in terms of effort, we were the better team. We created legitimate chances."
Stanford 0 3--3
Hawaii 0 1--1
Stan: Martha West (unassisted), 60:00.
Stan: Callie Withers (Ronnie Fair), 70:00.
Stan: Callie Withers (unassisted), 79:00.
UH: Leila Wai (penalty kick), 85:00.
Shots-Stan: 17, UH: 4. Corner kicks-Stan: 2, UH: 1. Fouls-Stan: 20, UH: 16. A--369.
WAHINE PLAYBOOK
No Ka Oi Tournament
Teams: The four-day tournament has Weber State, San Francisco and Hawaii playing each other in a round-robin format.
Coaches: Weber State, Lynn Kofoed and Tom Vudhivudhana, 4th season (40-17-3, .692). San Francisco, Jean Paul Verhees, 15th season (152-105-15, .586) Hawaii, Pinsoom Tenzing, 6th season (31-54-5, .372).
Season: Weber State (0-2), San Francisco (0-4). Hawaii, (1-2)
Series records: Weber State and UH are tied, 1-1, the Wahine winning, 1-0, in Ogden, Utah, in 1996 and losing by the same score in overtime last season. San Francisco leads, 3-0-1, having won the last meeting, 5-1, in 1997.
Top players: Weber St.: Crystal Lunsford, junior midfielder; Amber Bailey, senior defender, Melanie Miller, senior midfielder, Emily Woodward, freshman defender...USF: sophomore forward Heidi Prestegard had four goals last year and has scored two of the Lady Dons' three goals this year. Freshman forward Kirsteen Buchan scored the other goal and has an assist. Sophomore forward Crystal David, 3 goals, 5 assists in 1998. Defenders Melissa Lentz and Fiona MacDonald are co-captains with Prestegard.
Interesting facts: After exhibition wins over Salt Lake Community College and Dixie College, Weber State was blanked by Nevada-Las Vegas, 3-0, and Kansas, 3-0, before heading for the islands... USF's Verhees signed 17 new players and hired former North Carolina player Pamela Kalinoski as his assistant. Both players from Hawaii made the trip. Seabury Hall's Renee Judd has been injured and hasn't played yet. Iolani's Jody Tanga has started two of four USF matches. "She's doing quite well," Verhees said. USF lost its season opener to UNLV, 3-2, on a goal with two seconds left in the second overtime period...This is the first Hawaii trip for WSU and USF... Hawaii's Wendy Miyashiro with nine assists and Megan Lytle with eight are closing in on the Wahine career record of 10 held by Nicki Arakawa.
Match keys: The Wildcats are scoreless in two matches and the Lady Dons have gone 268 minutes without scoring. Kofoed is looking for the WSU offense to come together. "We've shown flashes of good offense, but haven't executed well when we have good looks at the goal,'" she said... Verhees also wants to find the right combination on offense. The Lady Dons got off 35 shots (15 on goal) in their first two matches, but have been held to 17 shots (9 on goal) in their last two outings...The Wahine need to play both matches with the same intensity they displayed against Stanford. UH also would benefit if the attacking midfielders can concentrate on that role and not have to drop back defensively that often. And, the UH strikers have to regain that finishing touch they showed against Hawaii Pacific. After two Division I matches, the Wahine must realize there's rarely much time to decide what to do with the ball. Total or wide field vision increases the chances of making a positive pass.
Kickoff: Today, San Francisco vs. Weber State; tomorrow, Hawaii vs. Weber State; Sunday, Stanford vs. San Francisco (non-tournament match), Monday, Hawaii vs. San Francisco, all 4 p.m., UH Soccer Field.
On the air: None.
Tickets: Free admission. $3 parking charge.
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
Ka Leo O Hawaii
