[ RAINBOW WAHINE SOCCER ]
FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii's Koren Takeyama was tripped up by Oklahoma's Allyson Kucera in the first half of yesterday's game at the Waipio Peninsula Soccer Park stadium. CLICK FOR LARGE
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Ako's goal lifts Hawaii
The freshman from Aiea scores UH's first goal of the season in a win over Oklahoma
Ambree Ako's goal was the difference for Hawaii as the Rainbow Wahine won their first soccer match of the season, 1-0 over the Oklahoma Sooners at the Waipio Peninsula Soccer Park stadium last night.
The victory put the Wahine in second place in the Ohana Hotels & Resorts No Ka Oi tournament before a crowd of 395.
The Washington Huskies won the tournament Saturday night with two second-half goals to edge Oklahoma 2-1.
Hawaii controlled much of the play in the first half, but could not find the net despite several opportunities.
The Sooners began to counterattack better as halftime approached and continued to put pressure on the UH defense early in the second half.
The Wahine took advantage of a tripping foul just outside the penalty box to score their first goal of the season at 67:16 when Ako's direct free kick from 19 yards out ricocheted into the net.
It was not a set play and the Sooners put up a seven-player wall.
"I was just going to rip it. I was trying to aim for one of their heads," said Ako, a freshman striker from Aiea.
"My aim was off. It deflected off a shin guard. It was sweet even though it was a deflection."
The Wahine had a scoring chance 3:26 into the match when Ako picked up a loose ball 25 yards out. She turned and fired a grounder from right to left past diving Oklahoma goalkeeper Jennifer Nichols. The ball hit the left post and trickled harmlessly in front of the goal line until Nichols picked it up.
The Wahine maintained control and kept pressure on the Sooner defense that, at times, had eight players across the back line. In a 7-minute span the Wahine forced three corner kicks.
On the third one by Kelli-Anne Chang from the left at 22:45, the ball sailed to the far side. Vanessa Bailey centered the ball back to Chang, but her shot was wide left.
At 29:25, Taryn Fukuroku set Koren Takeyama with a touch pass but her shot from the left was a foot wide of the right post. A minute later, Bailey chipped a 23-footer that hit the top of the crossbar.
"We just played downright good soccer, controlled the tempo, controlled the real estate for 30-35 minutes," said UH coach Pinsoom Tenzing.
"But, if you don't make use of your chances, it comes back to bite you. We lost control at the end of the first half and it took us time to get it back."
Oklahoma's first shot came at 36:30 on a breakaway by Tenesha Duncan. Her shot was blocked by UH goalkeeper Kori Lu, who came off the line 15 yards to make the save. Kady Kelly put the rebound over the crossbar.
Duncan broke away again at 44:22 only to have Lu make a diving block on her shot from 18 yards out.
The Sooners went from a 4-2-4 lineup to a 4-3-3 formation to start the second half and created more pressure on the UH defense. Savannah Scott unloaded a hard drive from 19 yards out at 50:06 that Lu saved with a diving stop.
Duncan battled her way through three UH defenders and sent a shot past Lu at 62:38 that hit the left post and was cleared.
Lu was credited with five saves and two came against one-on-one attempts.
"I told Kori the only thing you can do to erase the thing (Friday's goal between her legs) is to do good things. You could tell in warmups she was ready to go," said goalkeeper coach Josh Fouts.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
PLAYER |
POSITION |
TEAM |
» Ambree Ako |
F |
Hawaii |
» Jessica Domingo |
MF |
Hawaii |
» Shannon Dillon |
MF |
Washington |
» Daphne Fitzpatrick |
MF |
Oklahoma |
» Katie Hall |
D |
Washington |
» Andrea Hurley |
D |
Oklahoma |
» Kady Kelly |
MF |
Oklahoma |
» Koren Takeyama |
D |
Hawaii |
» Lehua Wood |
D |
Hawaii |
» Kelsey Rasmussen |
GK |
Washington |
MVP: Dani Bridges |
MF |
Washington |
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