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DeHay’s goal lifts
Wahine over Broncos
The Hawaii soccer team played well enough to record its sixth shutout of the season last night and move closer to clinching a berth in the Western Athletic Conference postseason tournament.
The Rainbow Wahine (11-4-2, 4-2) celebrated senior night with a 1-0 victory over Boise State before the largest crowd of the season (2,151) and the second-biggest-ever for a UH match at the Waipio Peninsula Soccer Park Stadium.
"It was a game I thought we were well-prepared for. It's a great facility with a great crowd, a tough place to play. We made one mistake in the back," said Boise State coach Steve Lucas.
The mistake came at 23:47 when Robyn deHay put UH on the scoreboard with her third goal of the season.
DeHay, not well-marked by any defense, received a pass from Seline Williams just inside the penalty box to the right of the goal. The senior striker controlled the ball, then whistled a left-footed shot high inside the right post under the crossbar to beat Broncos' goalkeeper Kim Parker from 14 yards out.
The Wahine had two other scoring opportunities in the opening half. Natasha Kai headed a Krystalynn Ontai corner kick off the bottom of the crossbar 3:40 into the match, but the ball bounced straight down and was cleared.
At 32:28, midfielder Jessica Domingo worked the ball through three defenders inside the goalie's box on the right side and slipped a pass across the goal mouth to Gabrielle Bohlman, who had her quick, soft shot blocked out of bounds by Parker.
In between those misses, UH goalkeeper Erin Chow dove to her left to deflect a low, straight blast by BSU's Melanie Bohnet from 20 yards out in the seventh minute.
In the first 45 minutes, Hawaii had a slight edge on shots, 7-5, but wasted a couple of free kicks that seemed to have no purpose and, on several occasions, put long balls into open space where there was no one to receive the pass.
In both halves, several UH free kicks were drilled too far as no Wahine seemed to be able to chip a shot into dangerous territory.
Neither goalkeeper had to make a save in the second half.
"We have struggled all year long, struggling with playing as a unit and we're reduced to going over the top to Natasha," said Hawaii coach Pinsoom Tenzing.
"Today, there was a lack of energy, a lot of walking."
DeHay had a chance to ice the match at 86:27 with a striker's dream, wide open in front of the net just a few feet off the goal line.
Joelle Sugai made a brilliant run down the left side and took the ball to the end line, where she passed back to deHay. The ball went off deHay's foot, up and over the crossbar.
"I should have had two goals on senior night, but I was celebrating before I took the shot," said deHay.
Boise State (9-5-1, 2-1-1) managed just seven shots, and the three that were on goal all came in the first half.
The Wahine finish the WAC regular season at Fresno State this Friday and San Jose State on Sunday.
Notes: Natasha Kai has taken 107 shots this year, two more than her old record of 105 set in 2002. ... The top crowd at Waipio for a UH match was 2,488 for the Southern Methodist match, Oct. 21, 2001.
WAC WOMEN'S STANDINGS
WAC matches All matches Team W L T Pct. W L T So. Methodist 4 0 1 .900 10 2 2 Hawaii 4 2 0 .667 11 4 2 Boise State 2 1 1 .625 9 5 1 Rice 2 2 0 .500 10 3 2 Texas-El Paso 2 2 1 .500 9 4 1 San Jose State 2 2 1 .500 4 9 1 Fresno State 1 2 2 .400 4 7 3 Tulsa 1 3 0 .250 4 9 2 Nevada 0 4 0 .000 2 11 1 Friday
Hawaii 3, Nevada 2
Southern Methodist 3, Rice 2
Tulsa 3, Texas-El Paso 0
Sunday
Hawaii 1, Boise State 0
San Jose State 2, Fresno State 0
Rice 1, Texas-El Paso 0
Southern Methodist 5, Tulsa 2
