The opening match of the Ohana Hotels & Resorts No Ka Oi Tournament ended in a 1-1 tie when neither the Hawaii Wahine nor the Alabama-Birmingham Blazers could dent the net in 20 minutes of sudden-victory overtime before 654 fans at the Waipio Peninsula Soccer Park Stadium last night. [ UH SOCCER ]
Season-opener ends
in draw for WahineBy Al Chase
achase@starbulletin.comThe best chances in OT came from UH's Natasha Kai, who sent the ball wide from 8 yards out just before the end of the first session. UH goalkeeper Mahie Atay had to dive to stuff Jenny Rynders' point-blank shot with a minute left in the second session.
"It was a bit of a battle the whole game. We're still missing that final pass and need work on finishing, but it's early in the season," said UAB coach Paul Harbin.
It took the Wahine almost 80 minutes to score their first goal of the season, the result of a fast break featuring Carmen Calpo and Kai.
The second half had been controlled by the Blazers with better midfield play and a quicker first step when it came to winning many balls from the Wahine.
Hawaii finally took advantage of a through ball that Calpo dribbled up the middle on the right side, slipped the ball to Kai, whose first attempt was blocked, but not secured by UAB goalkeeper Lisa Nowoslawski. Kai picked up the rebound, swiveled around and chipped the ball into the net.
"We need more midfield play. The misses in the beginning set the tempo for the game. If we put those away, it's a different match," said UH coach Pinsoom Tenzing. "They are a speedy team, a good team and they were well-prepared for us."
The Wahine had the better of the early going. Arlene Devitt's left-footed shot at 1:33 was just wide right and two minutes later she pushed the ball too much on a breakaway and Nowoslawski had an easy pick.
UH had another good opportunity at 8:34 when Natalie Groenewoud worked the ball to the goal line and back-passed to Kai, whose shot was blocked, but was corralled by Devitt only to have Nowoslawski make a diving save at her feet.
The Blazers created their own danger 11 minutes into the half when Tara Kidwell took advantage of a poor UH clear to work the ball along the goal line. She passed to Adrienne Suffridge, but her shot from 7 yards out square in front of the goal sailed over the bar.
Nowoslawski made another diving stop on Devitt 12 yards out from the line on the left side at 19:22.
UH defender Krytstalynn Ontai saved a UAB goal at 26:23 when she cleared UH goalkeeper Jennifer Churchill's deflection of Tara Kidwell's shot off the goal line.
However, a minute later Rynders' head shot off a free kick from 40 yards out by Briana McCarty gave UAB a 1-0 lead 27:32 into the half.
The matched settled into a battle between the 18-yard lines as the Blazers were able to match the Wahine speed and UH couldn't make much use of through balls. At 42:08 Erin Quattromani sent Kai flying up the right wing, but Nowoslawski came out to block the shot up in the air and a teammate cleared the ball.
Notes: UAB's Liz Bosscher and Cindy Penaranda were born in Hawaii while their fathers were in the military. .. The tournament continues tonight when UAB plays Wyoming at 7.
UH Athletics