[ UH SOCCER ]
UH clinches
second in WAC
Hawaii clinched second place in the Western Athletic Conference soccer standings with a 3-0 win over Fresno State last night before 895 fans at the Waipio Peninsula Soccer Park Stadium.
The Bulldogs (6-7-2, 3-3) put half of their 22 shots on goal, forcing Mahie Atay to make nine saves. The UH defense also forced several more FSU attempts to be taken from 30 yards out or more in recording the team's 10th shutout of the season.
"Mahie has very safe hands. She kills the ball. She was outstanding tonight," said UH coach Pinsoom Tenzing.
The Wahine (12-4-1, 6-1) took advantage of a terrible clearing attempt by Fresno State goalkeeper Jeannette Paine on a through ball by Arlene Devitt to score the first goal at 2:29. Paine's kick went straight up, and when it came down Natasha Kai rolled the ball into the empty net from 22 yards out.
Another FSU defensive mistake led to the second UH goal at 14:43. Kai beat Paine to a back pass from a Bulldog defender, faked, and rolled the ball into an open goal.
Despite the lead, UH did not control much of the first half as the Bulldogs won numerous balls at midfield and kept pressure on the UH defense. FSU outshot Hawaii 15-8 and put eight shots on goal with Atay making eight saves, two of them spectacular diving stops.
Atay made another tremendous save on Erin Sayegusa's blast from 7 yards out following a scramble in the box at 71:45.
Kai completed her fourth hat trick of the season at 76:00. Liz Lusk brought the ball upfield and found Kalena Eaton open in the middle about 35 yards out with the FSU defense backtracking.
Sophomore striker Kai then took Eaton's pass and rammed a right-foot shot inside the right post.
"I think we were too relaxed after two easy goals," Tenzing said. "We did not control the midfield in the first half, but did a better job in the second half."
UH concludes the WAC regular season tomorrow with a 5 p.m. match against San Jose State.
