Wahine on
wrong end of 1-0

The Hawaii Rainbow Wahine lost their final regular-season match 1-0 to the host San Francisco Dons last night at Negoesco Stadium.

The match was marked by limited offense, as the teams combined for only 15 shots and the USF defense held UH (16-6-2) to two in the second half.

Both teams missed an open net in the first half.

The Dons (9-6-3) got the winning goal from junior midfielder Stephanie Gray at 62:25. She took a through ball from Hilary Fisher and beat UH goalkeeper Erin Chow inside the post.

UH coach Pinsoom Tenzing started the match with a 4-4-2 formation, but switched back to the 4-3-3 after the Wahine fell behind. However, the Dons' defense was equal to the task.

The best Wahine chance to tie the game came in the 65th minute, but Natasha Kai's diving head shot went over the crossbar.

It was San Francisco's fifth shutout of the season and the fourth time Hawaii has been blanked. The Wahine are 0-6-2 against USF all time.

The Wahine, currently in second place in the Western Athletic Conference standings, have to wait for this weekend's results to know if they stay there and earn a first-round bye as the second seed in the postseason tournament Nov. 4-6 at the Waipio Peninsula Soccer Park Stadium.

The assumption is first-place Southern Methodist (11-3-2, 4-1-1 WAC) will win or tie one of its two matches against either Nevada (2-13-1, 0-6-0) or Boise State (9-6-2, 2-2-2) and secure the No. 1 seed.

Hawaii needs to have Boise State defeat host Texas-El Paso (10-4-1, 3-2-1) on Friday. The Miners -- who hold the first tiebreaker, head-to-head result during the regular season, with UH -- would be out of consideration for the second seed.

The Wahine also need either San Jose State (5-10-1, 2-3-1) or Fresno State (5-7-3, 2-2-2), two teams still battling to earn one of the six tournament berths, to either defeat or tie the Rice Owls (11-3-3, 3-2-1), who are playing at home.

However, should FSU beat Tulsa (9-2, 3-3-0) and Rice, the Bulldogs would claim the No. 2 seed.

In case of ties, The Wahine hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over Rice, Boise State and Tulsa.