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Wahine, Chow
blank 49ers
The Hawaii women finally won a home soccer match in their fourth of the year.
Relying on the shutout goaltending of senior Erin Chow, the Rainbow Wahine defeated Long Beach State 1-0 in the final match of the Outrigger Hotels & Resorts Soccer Classic last night at the Waipio Peninsula Soccer Park Stadium.
Chow, starting for the first time in place of Mahie Atay who took a knock on the head in the Duke match last Friday, made six saves in posting her third career shutout.
"I felt confident and I had the full support of my teammates," said Chow.
Natasha Kai made the 49ers pay for a defensive lapse with a goal at 48:47, only the second goal the Wahine have scored at home this year.
"We played very badly. We had a lot of room in the middle of the field and didn't push a lot of elementary balls forward," said UH coach Pinsoom Tenzing. "We did pass better in the second half."
The Wahine had two good scoring chances in an evenly played first half. In the 19th minute Robyn deHay took a shot inside the box that was blocked by a defender. The rebound went to a wide open Seline Williams who drove a rising line drive that just cleared the crossbar.
Two minutes later the 49ers Amber Oliveira sent a dangerous corner kick from the right side that UH goalkeeper Erin Chow grabbed, then lost in a crush of bodies, but Jessica Uecker cleared the ball to relieve the Wahine defense.
With a minute to go, Trisha Kai got a pass from Joelle Sugai, cut into the middle and fed Natasha Kai who had her shot blocked out of bounds by 49er goalkeeper Meghan Hartwyk. On the ensuing corner kick by Krystalynn Ontai, Natasha Kai's header was on the wrong side of the crossbar.
UH took advantage of a mix-up by a trio of Long Beach State defenders to score.
On a long pass upfield with Natasha Kai in pursuit, Hartwyk and teammates Natalie Messina and Allison Wiegand converged on the ball at the 18-yard line. Hartwyk tried to clear the ball but it rattled off both teammates and Kai stepped between the trio to push the ball in the open net from 15 yards out.
That was Kai's 242nd career shot. Her first shot of the second half (No. 241) broke a tie with Arlene Devitt for first place on the all-time UH list.
The 49ers had an excellent chance to equalize in the 53rd minute when Allison Reeves received a through pass cutting in from the right, but Chow made a sliding foot save to deflect the shot out of bounds.
Long Beach created another good opportunity in the 77th minute with Kristin Travis having her shot blocked off a corner kick. The rebound went to MacKenzie Blechel. She drilled a shot toward the left post that was headed clear by UH midfielder Tia Medeiros guarding that corner of the nets.
UH's plays host to Portland State this Sunday at 5 p.m.
www.hawaiiathletics.com
