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Rainbow Wahine keep
Hurricane down
The Hawaii soccer team increased its unbeaten streak to seven matches last night before 1,052 fans at the Waipio Peninsula Soccer Park Stadium.
The Rainbow Wahine, 6-0-1 during their run, rode first-half goals by Natasha Kai and Pam Fong to a 2-0 Western Athletic Conference win over the Tulsa Golden Hurricane.
"I thought we looked really good. We had more mobility up top and tried to work the ball through (the defense) instead of just going over the top into open space. That's the way we want to play," said Wahine coach Pinsoom Tenzing.
Seline Williams set up the first UH scoring opportunity with a pass between two Tulsa defenders to Natasha Kai angling in from the left. Kai flicked the ball past Abby Fahrig, the onrushing Tulsa goalkeeper. However, Kai's shot glanced off the left post and spun across the goal mouth toward the right post, where it was finally cleared to the sideline.
Five minutes later, Koren Takeyama and Kai worked the give-and go, freeing Takeyama up for a left-footed shot that went past Fahrig, but was cleared off the goal line by defender Katherine Vitale.
Kai, who had three head shots off corner kicks sail high earlier in the half, got her fourth attempt lower at 29:19 for her eighth goal of the season and a 1-0 UH lead.
The play started with a short back pass just inside the left sideline by Robyn deHay to Joelle Sugai. The senior midfielder lofted a ball across the goal mouth, where Kai headed it back inside the left post from 10 yards out.
Fong, just into the game, gave the Wahine a 2-0 lead at 41:21 with her first score of the year.
UH (9-2-2) capitalized on an indirect free kick by Jessica Uecker 5 yards inside the midfield line. Kai, waiting 16 yards out from the right post, headed the ball to Fong, who one-timed a shot back into the upper right corner of the goal.
"I was just kind of waiting. I thought she (Natasha) was going to score," said Fong, a striker who was more excited that fellow senior and goalkeeper Erin Chow got another shutout.
Chow did not have to make a save in the opening 45 minutes. The Wahine outshot the Golden Hurricane 8-2, with five of those shots on goal.
The Golden Hurricane (3-7-2) created more offense after intermission and outshot Hawaii 6-5 in the second half.
Chow's first save came at 53:54 when she blocked Katie Ward's uncontested shot from 14 yards away out of bounds past the right post. Chow ended up making four saves, but none were as testing as the first one, as she recorded her second shutout of the weekend.
"We did seem more relaxed today," said Tenzing. "I told the players at halftime there was a lot of room to push the ball around, to go out and enjoy themselves. I'm happy we got to give everyone significant playing time."
Dehay said, "Offense starts with the defense and I think the main thing this weekend was our defense was feeding the midfield, not just looking for the long ball. Seline (Williams) and Jessica (Domingo) are really good in the center."
Tenzing agreed. "Those two center mids are monumental. I'm thrilled they are playing much better than at the start of the season."
WAC women's standings
WAC matches All matches Team W L T Pct. W L T Hawaii 2 0 0 1.000 9 2 2 Boise State 1 0 0 1.000 7 4 0 So. Methodist 1 0 1 .750 6 2 2 Texas-El Paso 1 0 1 .750 8 2 1 Fresno State 0 0 2 .500 3 5 3 Tulsa 0 1 0 .000 3 7 2 Nevada 0 1 0 .000 2 8 1 Rice 0 1 0 .000 7 2 2 San Jose State 0 2 0 .000 2 9 0 Yesterday
Hawaii, 2, Tulsa 0
Boise State 2, Nevada 0
Southern Methodist 1 Fresno State 1 (2 OT)
Texas-El Paso 2, San Jose State 0
Wahine statistics
Players G A Pts Natasha Kai 8 4 20 Koren Takeyama 2 4 8 Gabrielle Bohlman 3 1 7 Robyn deHay 1 3 5 Joelle Sugai 0 5 5 Krisha Kai 2 0 4 Pam Fong 1 0 2 Kelly McCloskey 1 0 2 Jessica Uecker 0 2 2 Jessica Domingo 0 1 1 Kalena Eaton 0 1 1 Seline Williams 0 1 1 Krystalynn Ontai 0 1 1 Totals 18 23 59 Opponents 8 8 24 Goalkeepers Time GA Avg. Erin Chow 409:10 2 0.44 Mahie Atay 804:00 6 0.67 Team total 1,213:10 8 0.59 Opponents 1,213:10 18 1.36
