Wahine miss
shots in opener

The 2004 Hawaii Rainbow Wahine soccer season started with a zero last night, much to the disappointment of a vocally supportive crowd of 1,107.

The St. Mary's Gaels of the West Coast Conference used a first-half goal to beat UH 1-0 in the opener of the OHANA Hotels & Resorts No Ka Oi Tournament at the Waipio Peninsula Soccer Park Stadium.

"I'm very proud of our players for a courageous win. This is a tough place to come and get a result because UH has so much talent," said St. Mary's head coach Paul Sapsford.

"We had a well-coordinated defensive effort because we knew the talent we were facing. We didn't allow anything in behind (the back line) all night and kept UH at long range."

UH goalkeeper Mahie Atay made the first save of the match with 6:14 gone on a waist-high shot from 16 yards out by St. Mary's' McKenna Belzer.

Natasha Kai took a pass from Koren Takeyama and broke open 9:51 into the match, but Gaels goalkeeper Andrea Lee made a diving save on the left-footed shot.

The Gaels got on the scoreboard when Belzer took a through ball from Stephanie Harrison in wide-open space on the right, dribbled in unhindered and beat Atay with a low shot inside the right post at 23:46.

Moments later, Takeyama's left-footer from 14 yards out sailed wide left for UH. At 30:01, Natasha Kai unloaded on the run from the right side, but Lee grabbed the blast headed for the upper right corner.

The Wahine lacked organization much of the first half and communication was shaky in the defensive end on several occasions.

"This is what happens when a team has injuries and the players haven't had a chance to play together that much," said UH coach Pinsoom Tenzing.

"We made some adjustments in the second half with the three (Takeyama, Krisha Kai and Gabrielle Bohlman) to counter their marking back because I thought we could get around her and we created opportunities."

Sapsford assigned Harrison to mark Natasha Kai, but Kai still got nine shots off. When Natasha was out, Harrison acted more like a sweeper.

Hawaii came out in the second half with a lot of energy and pressured the Gaels defense. Bohlman had two good opportunities inside 12 yards in the first 5 minutes, but popped one try over the bar and the other wide.

Lee made another excellent save on Kai, who split two defenders with a left-footed shot. The shot curled back toward the right, but Lee dove to her left and grabbed the ball in mid-air, 5 yards off the goal line.

The Gaels were content to clear the ball for the final 10 minutes, keeping the Wahine from posing any major threats.

"I thought we battled well for the ball in the air and I'm pleased with the play of our center midfielders," said Tenzing.

Senior striker Robyn deHay sat out the match, serving a one-match suspension for the red card she received in the Western Athletic Conference tournament against Rice last year.

UH is 3-5-2 in home season openers. St. Mary's plays Pacific tonight at 7 and the Wahine take on Pacific tomorrow at 5 p.m.