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Rainbow Wahine settle for
1-1 tie against Pacific
The Hawaii Rainbow Wahine unloaded 21 shots on the Pacific goal, but had to settle for a 1-1 tie in double overtime last night in the finale of the OHANA Hotels & Resorts No Ka Oi tournament at the Waipio Peninsula Soccer Park Stadium.
Senior defender Krystalynn Ontai, who left the match with 6 seconds left in the second overtime period with a charley horse to her left thigh summed up the result.
"I'll be all right," she said. "It hurts more here (pointing to her heart) because we tie."
UH coach Pinsoom Tenzing said, "We were more energized than the first match (Friday) and that was good. Our midfielders are getting better and I'm enamored with the ease (freshman) Jessica Domingo hunts down every ball."
Still, it was evident the Wahine need more playing time with each other to anticipate each other's moves. Too many times a through ball was sent one way and the intended receiver went the other way.
The Tigers pressed for the first 3 minutes with smart overlapping play on the wings but were not able to get off a testing shot against Mahie Atay, guarding the UH net.
The Wahine had the better of the action much of the rest of the first half but most of their shots (11) were taken from long range and posed no problem for Pacific goalkeeper Jamie Souza.
Jessica Uecker's free kick from midfield at 36:39 sailed over the Pacific defense to Natasha Kai 12 yards out from the left post, but the junior striker's first-time shot was lifted over the bar.
In the second half, Atay was forced to come out and make a diving leg save at the top of the penalty box on Bunny Dickson, who got a great pass from Regina McGee at 48:08.
Two minutes later, at 50:21, the Tigers created another fast break down the middle. Carmen Padilla, running with the ball in the middle, forced Atay to make a move, then slipped a pass to Maggie Barsotti, cruising in from the right and she slid the ball into the open net.
"We broke down in the middle and had bad team defense," Tenzing said.
The Wahine put three shots, one by Kai and two by Koren Takeyama, on goal from within 6 feet in the 65th minute, but the Pacific defense turned each one into a rebound and finally cleared the ball.
Hawaii finally broke a 140-minute, 16-second, two-match run of frustration when Robyn deHay maneuvered through four defenders on a 20-yard run, then rolled the ball inside the left post from 19 yards out for Hawaii's first goal of the year to tie the score at 1-1 at 65:16.
UH had two excellent opportunities late in regulation. A free kick went straight to Kai, but bounced off her body right to Souza at 84:33. At 85:16, deHay's free kick found Kai's head, but her shot was stopped by Souza.
In the first overtime, Takeyama split two defenders for a clear shot, only to have it rejected off to the left by a diving Souza.
Barsotti had a wonderful chance from 7 yards out off the left post at the end of a scramble in front of the UH goal, but lifted her shot over the bar 2 minutes before OT.
UH pressed early in the first extra period, but Souza deflected Takeyama's attempt at 2:09. Kai had headers inside the box at 7:42 and 8:58 in the second overtime, but Souza saved the first and the second rolled a foot outside the left post.
"We weren't crisp with our passing. Our timing is off," Tenzing said.
St. Mary's won the tournament title with a 2-1 victory over Pacific on Saturday night. McKenna Belzer scored the game-winner at 88:40.
