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Notebook
Friday, September 1, 2000
WAHINE SOCCER NOTEBOOK
Arlene Devitt certainly made a grand impression in her first two matches with the University of Hawaii women's soccer team last weekend. Smashing debut
for DevittThe 5-foot-9 freshman striker from Kapaa High School scored all four UH goals and accomplished that on just 10 shots.
She may be the tallest striker Pinsoom Tenzing has ever recruited in his seven seasons as Wahine head coach.
With excellent speed, a keen awareness of where she is on the field, and toughness, she will cause problems for opposing defenses.
Devitt also demonstrated unselfishness in serving balls to teammates in scoring position.
When some thought her first goal against Wyoming might have been an own goal, her reaction was "It's still a goal. What difference does it make?"
Freshmen recruits, Kalena Eaton and Liz Lusk fared well.
Eaton, a 5-8 midfielder from Baldwin High School, started both matches. She tackled aggressively, too much at times, but will learn to do so without fouling the more she plays.
She also was involved in passing combinations and has the ability to contribute on offense. All four shots Eaton took against Wyoming were on goal.
Lusk, a 5-7 midfielder from San Diego's El Capitan High School, made her first appearance on the back line against Wyoming in place of the injured Carmel Hurley.
The Wahine didn't lose much in the speed department with Lusk who outran Cowgirl strikers several times to win control of the ball. And, once in control, she rarely gave the ball away.
Seeing yellow
The Wahine have been tagged with six yellow cards and received one red card in their first two matches.In 1999, they didn't get their first yellow card until the ninth match of the season. In fact, only two yellow cards and one red card were shown to Wahine players all last year.
"It's not a concern at all," said Tenzing. "We can not predict how the game will be refereed. Different referees have different styles of refereeing. You have to be able to adjust. Ithink they are playing very aggressively and I want them to keep playing fairly. You notice our girls don't pull shirts to get an advantage by cheating."
Getting a red card means immediate ejection and a one-match suspension for the next scheduled contest. Dawn Dasher, who got the red card against Wyoming, will miss both matches this weekend because her card was the result of striking.
The senior striker knew she made a mistake and apologized to her teammates for "losing her cool" as she came off the field.
Injury update
Carmel Hurley, who suffered a concussion (knee to the forehead) in a collision with the Boise State goalkeeper, will not play this weekend. She isn't even cleared to run yet."We grade concussions one, two, three and Carmel's was between a two and a three," said Wahine soccer trainer Michelle Luteyn-Landis.
"If she is cleared by the doctor we may start some limited, supervised running next week. Carmel is competitive and wants to play, so she's been counseled about being very honest with us about how she feels."
A nice problem
With Leila Wai and then Liz Lusk taking over for Hurley, the depth of the 2000 Wahine becomes more apparent. Picking 18 players to travel on road trips this year should keep any player from becoming complacent."I think everyone is on tenterhooks now knowing that we have a good team and no one is indispensible. That's a good situation for me," Tenzing said.
Around the pitch
The 15 corner kicks the Wahine forced against Boise State bettered the school single-match record of 11 set against Sacramento State in 1997.The decision by the Wahine players to walk toward the stands and give the fans a round of applause after the Wyoming game last Sunday was a wonderful, fitting gesture.
Walt and Wanda Miyashiro are chairpersons of the Wahine Soccer booster club. Anyone wishing to make a contribution can do so with a check made out to the UH Foundation with the notation it is for Wahine soccer. Donations are accepted by booster club members who man the concession stand at Waipio Stadium during UH matches.
UH was not able to charge admission this year because the stadium is not fenced, although it will be in the future.
"We want to build our audience, captivate them this year, then institute a paid plan with season-ticket packages and special sections for our boosters and VIPs next year," said Marilyn Moniz-Kaho'ohanohano, assistant athletic director for women's sports at UH.
By Al Chase