[ UH SOCCER ]
Hawaii coach Pinsoom Tenzing started the four Rainbow Wahine seniors and they contributed mightily to a 5-0 victory over Nevada in a Western Athletic Conference soccer match at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Park last night before 1,429 fans. Rainbow Wahine seniors
show way in shutout win
By Al Chase
achase@starbulletin.comSenior goalkeeper Jennifer Churchill posted the shutout. Her only save was of the diving variety 17 minutes into the match. After that, the Wahine defense held the Wolf Pack at bay.
"I was kind of thinking, hoping I would get the start," said Churchill.
Right back Noelle Takemoto played her usual solid game, denying Nevada any offensive thrusts down the left side.
Erin Quattromani, who missed senior day at Stanford, had no idea what it involved here, but, draped in leis, she said, "It's pretty special. It's good to go out with a bang. Now, we've got to carry this on with us on the road trip."
Wanette Miyashiro assisted on two goals by Natasha Kai and moved within two matches of playing in the most by a Wahine.
Hawaii (8-7-2, 4-2-0 WAC) scored quickly when two Nevada (4-13-0, 1-5-0) defenders and goalkeeper Megan Tarpenning couldn't make up their minds on how to handle a well-placed chip by Miyashiro into the middle at the top of the arc.
Kai managed to get a foot on the ball and send it rolling, tantalizingly toward the goal line. Tarpenning quickly retreated, but the ball had just enough juice to win the race over the goal line.
The Wahine took a 2-0 lead at 25:24 when Arlene Devitt beat a Nevada defender to a through ball from Mia Moe. With a step on the defender, Devitt dribbled a few steps, then launched a shot into the left side of the goal past Tarpenning.
Devitt received a yellow card at 40:20 for shirt and shorts pulling. It was her fifth yellow of the season, which means she will have to sit out Hawaii's opening game on the road Friday against San Jose State.
"I thought they played beautifully. We had a lot of room and we used it. We had a good mixture of short- , medium- and long-range balls (passes) all match," said Tenzing. "We found open people on the weak side and that is hard to do."
Kai scored her second goal at 52:05 when she beat Tarpenning with a 12-yard shot in a one-on-one situation from the left side. The freshman from Kahuku now holds the school single-season record for most points (31) in a season. Kai was set up by passes up the left side from Miyashiro and Devitt.
Devitt increased the UH advantage to 4-0 at 58:52 when she dribbled the ball from the left side toward the middle, faked a pass to the right, then drilled a low shot inches off the ground that caught the inside of the left post and found the net.
Kalena Eaton scored her first goal of the year at 76:15.
UH Athletics
