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Wednesday, November 1, 2000
With three weeks left, University of Hawaii head women's soccer coach Pinsoom Tenzing called the 2000 season "the most disappointing ever because we have the best team we've ever had." Wahine soccer team ends
disappointing seasonBy Al Chase
Star-BulletinAfter the 0-0 tie with Southern Methodist, Tenzing said, "This has been a season from hell. It's like we played every match with one hand tied behind our backs."
At the beginning of the season it was not unrealistic to think the Wahine would post a record just the reverse of their 5-12-3 mark.
Hawaii seemed a solid bet to be one of the six teams participating in this week's Western Athletic Conference tournament.
Eight one-goal losses, including five during an eight-match winless streak, and three defeats in which the opposing team scored the winning goal in the final three minutes heightened the frustration.
Tenzing still firmly believes this was team with the best talent necessary to score goals.
"It was a tremendous finishing team, but you didn't see all the finishers on the field all the time," Tenzing said.
Disciplinary problems, the injury that kept goalkeeper Demarre Sanchez out of four matches, players not meeting conditioning requirements and players sitting because of red cards all took a toll on keeping the offense cohesive throughout the season.
Hawaii only averaged 1.2 goals per match. Despite forcing a WAC high 105 corner kicks, a potentially good scoring opportunity, the only Wahine goal off a corner kick came in the Hawaii Pacific match.
The defense was predicated on applying pressure, extreme pressure in the midfield, every time an opponent touched the ball.
"We went to the 3-4-3 pressure defense because we had such a spectacular goalkeeper," Tenzing said.
"As soon as an opponent got the ball we wanted one and a half defenders on her. The new blood took time to learn that concept. And, if someone was dreaming, not focusing on the field, the system broke down."
Conditioning, always important for Tenzing, became a crusade.
"The consequence of not being fit was they won't start and they won't travel. The players knew that after spring practice," he said.
"We had three or four freshmen superstars who came in shape and it posed a dilemma. The kids who had played together in a system for two, three years were left out.
"There was total insistence on holding the line on conditioning. It was in black and white and we enforced it. If someone was on the receiving end, they can't be happy. In a tight game that makes it very difficult to win.
Several players said this team never really came together and it showed on the field.
It wasn't the way the seniors wanted to remember their final campaign at UH. At least the returnees have a chance to make things different in 2001.
UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii
