Thursday, October 28, 1999

Miyashiro
inspires UH

Wahine Playbook

By Al Chase
Star-Bulletin

Wendy Miyashiro loves soccer and wanted to keep playing after graduating from Aiea High School.

Four years ago this 5-foot tall midfielder walked on to the Hawaii Wahine program. She had doubts about her ability to play Division I soccer, but was eager to try.

Hawaii head coach Pinsoom Tenzing had seen her play at Aiea, but there was no direct contact until that first day of tryouts.

By the end of tryouts, Miyashiro had earned a partial (tuition and books) scholarship.

"When I made the team I was really happy just to be given a chance to play college level soccer. No one in high school or my club team really thought about playing in college," she said.

Four years and 76 matches later, including a current streak of 59 consecutive starts, Miyashiro is the only four-year senior on the first team headed for the Western Athletic Conference playoffs.

"Happy? Oh yes, finally a dream come true," she said.

She has been a co-captain the past two years and the team's most inspirational player as a sophomore and junior.

The UH record was 4-14-2 when she was a freshman and has improved each season, going 7-12-1, to 11-7-0 to 11-6-1 with at least two matches remaining this season.

Miyashiro discovered the college game was much faster and played with more intensity. Still, she was able to deal with playing for a losing team as a freshman.

"I came from Aiea and we didn't have a winning tradition. We built character, so I could deal with it better than the girls who came from winning programs. I just wanted to develop and survive that way."

Summer conditioning became a ritual with Miyashiro. She had never been on a championship team and had experienced her share of moral victories.

"I just wanted to play really well and win. That's what I was working toward. It was my motivation to run during the summer," Miyashiro said.

After her sophomore year, Miyashiro decided to spread the motivation and saw to it that the local Wahine players got involved because she knew how much summer conditioning helps out.

"I've always been impressed with Wendy. She's a tremendously wonderful kid, industrious, goal orientated, knows what she wants and works really, really, really hard to get it," Tenzing said.

"She not the biggest, not the fastest, not the strongest, but I would take her over anybody. She's a positive and that makes a difference on any team. And she doesn't do it for one year or two years but for the duration."

Miyashiro's two most memorable matches were against San Jose State. Last year, UH would have qualified for the WAC playoffs by beating the Spartans at Ala Wai Field but lost, 3-1. Miyashiro was depressed for a week.

"That was just the hardest year because I really thought that was the team that was going to make it, skill-wise, talent-wise. The San Jose game was like watching everything fall away," Miyashiro said. "I didn't think I would work out for another whole summer, but I got refocused.

"After we beat San Jose this year, I felt like we can do anything now. We got over that mental hump (a WAC road win)."

"She's a fabulous role model for everyone involved with her. I marvel at what a positive attitude she has," Tenzing said.

"By sheer will, determination and hard work, the area where I see the most remarkable change in her game is her quickness. The other area, which I never thought she would have, is her speed. She can keep up with the top Division I players."

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Wahine Playbook

vs. Hawaii Pacific Sea Warriors

Coaches: Hawaii, Pinsoom Tenzing, 6th season (41-59-6, .415). Hawaii Pacific, Mark and Alexis Kane, 5th season (18-36-3, .342).

Season: Hawaii, (11-6-1). Hawaii Pacific (3-6-1 overall).

Series record: Hawaii leads the series, 5-0. The Wahine defeated the Sea Warriors, 4-1, in the 1999 season opener for both teams Sept. 3.

Top players: This is the final home match for two seniors on each team. Hawaii: Kammie Aguada (No. 4), a 5-3 midfielder from Iolani, and Wendy Miyashiro (No. 20), a 5-foot midfielder from Aiea High School. Hawaii Pacific: Sandy Chang (No. 6), a 5-foot-2 defender from Castle High School, and Andrea Taylor (No. 11), a 5-7 midfielder from Westminster, Calif.

Interesting facts: Mark and Alexis Kane have been in the coaching business for more than a quarter of a century, helping guide AYSO, WISA and high school teams as well as serving as co-coaches of the HPU women's team. Between them, they have five prep championships to their credit. Mark was head coach of the Castle boys' team that won the Hawaii High School Athletic Association title in 1980. Alexis coached Scared Hearts to the very first Interscholastic League of Honolulu girls' championship in 1979. UH striker Veronica Flores has 23 points and needs one more to break a tie for the single-season record she shares with Tricia Nishikawa.

Match keys: It would be simple to say this match is a tuneup for the Wahine, who leave Monday for the Western Athletic Conference playoffs in Dallas. But anytime two Hawaii teams face each other, "tuneup" just does not apply. True, the Wahine want to have their execution as flawless as possible and a reserve player on the bubble as far as making the travel roster may get more minutes to impress the coaches, but UH needs to keep its momentum going with a victory. The Sea Warriors, who struggled to create an offense much of the season (shut out in five of the first seven matches), have scored seven goals in their last three outings. They would like nothing better than to end their season on a high by upsetting Hawaii. The key will revolve around the team that forgets its collective ego and focuses on the task of playing solid tactical soccer.

Kickoff: Tomorrow, 4 p.m., UH Soccer Field

On the air: Live on KFVE, 4 p.m.