The Hawaii Wahine knew before the match started they had to shut out Wyoming yesterday to have a chance to win the Ohana Hotels & Resorts No Ka Oi Tournament at the Waipio Peninsula Soccer Park stadium. Rainbow Wahine
roll over CowgirlsBy Al Chase
achase@starbulletin.comThey didn't accomplish that, but the Wahine did record their first win of the season with a 5-2 victory over the Cowgirls.
The tournament title went to Alabama-Birmingham. The Blazers took control by blanking Wyoming 3-0 Saturday night. Since UH and UAB tied Friday, the next tiebreaker was goals allowed and the Blazers only surrendered one.
Natasha Kai and Arlene Devitt scored twice for Hawaii (1-0-1) and Erin Quattromani converted a penalty kick after Kai was fouled in the box late in the match for the fifth score.
Kai had three golden scoring opportunities in the first five minutes, but Wyoming goalkeeper Lori Scheider frustrated her twice and the crossbar was the culprit the third time.
Scheider parried Kai's shot from 10 yards out, then twisted and dove on the ball before it rolled across the goal line three minutes into the game. At 4:23 Scheider smothered Kai's breakaway attempt. Twenty-seven seconds later Natalie Groenewoud sent a perfect cross into Kai from the right that the freshman from Kahuku High School headed from 7 yards out only to have the ball glance off the cross bar.
"It doesn't necessarily affect me to miss, but it would have been good if they went in. I was on a hype, probably too much so, and I knew one would go in and finally one did," said Kai. "My teammates never gave up."
Kai finally found the net at 12:56 when she headed home a corner kick from the left side by Wanette Miyashiro.
The Wahine struck again when Joelle Sugai took a clearing pass and pushed the ball to Devitt, who found Carmen Calpo with her back to the goal 25 yards out. Calpo one-touched the ball back to Devitt cutting by on the right. She drilled a grounder into the net from just outside the box for a 2-0 UH lead. The goal boosted Devitt to the top of the all-time UH points list. She now has 50.
Wyoming cut the margin in half at 42:16 when Angela O'Dell calmly chipped a shot into the upper right corner after receiving a weak, clearing head shot off a UH defender. That goal eliminated Hawaii from tournament championship contention.
Kai gave the Wahine a 3-1 lead 39 seconds later when she poked a ball into the net that had been muffed by the Wyoming defense.
Mercy Adetoye scored at 68:48 for Wyoming but the Wahine responded at 73:02 when Kai dribbled up the middle on the right, stopped and pushed a soft pass to Devitt. The junior from Kauai quick-stepped between two Wyoming defenders and guided a waist-high shot past Scheider from 15 yards away.
Notes: UAB goalkeeper Lisa Nowoslawski was the tournament MVP. UH all-tournament team members were Sasha Araya-Schraner, Joelle Sugai, Devitt and Kai, who set a UH single-game record with 13 shots.
UH Athletics