Already mathematically eliminated from the Big West tournament at the start of the week, the Hawaii soccer team nonetheless found something to play for in their season finale Sunday.
The Rainbow Wahine dueled Cal State Northridge to a scoreless draw in double overtime on the Matadors’ senior night, notching their second straight shutout after failing to record a clean sheet for the first 16 games of the year.
It was the only tie of the season for UH (7-10-1, 2-5-1 Big West), which avoided a last-place finish among the nine teams in the league.
UH’s effort was high after the Wahine posted a 1-0 win at UC Irvine on Thursday.
"I have a really hardcore appreciation and respect for these kids," UH coach Michele Nagamine said in a postgame phone interview. "To come out and play as well as they did … it’s tough to get motivated in those situations. You have a little bit of apathy sometimes that can set in. That absolutely wasn’t the case with us. Every single one of them was ready to go and very, just very energetic."
The Wahine came close but could not extend their perfect record in overtime matches this season, moving to 3-0-1.
CSUN (7-10-2, 4-3-1) finished fourth, qualifying it for the four-team league tournament, the coveted next step UH hasn’t yet achieved in its three years in the Big West.
Like in the Irvine win, UH’s two goalkeepers Erica Young and Monk Berger combined on the shutout. Young played the first half and Berger the second plus the two 10-minute OT periods.
"We did some very encouraging things in my book," Nagamine said. "The backs seemed to have a lot more cohesion and connection, and now we’ve got people throwing their bodies in front of the ball."
Matadors goalkeeper Jovani McCaskill recorded nine saves — seven in the first half. UH outshot the hosts 18-12, including nine combined attempts from Storm Kenui and Kama Pascua.
"Their keeper was out of her mind today," Nagamine said. "There were probably … two or three goals that she single-handedly saved. I mean, she was fantastic. I am voting her (Big West) first-team keeper. She was the best I’ve seen this year."
It was the final match in the careers of UH seniors Ashley Haruki, Hayden Gibson and Alexis Colacchio. Other outgoing players Korinne Estrada and Olivia Stanford did not play, while injured senior captain Krystal Pascua helped coach the team from the sidelines for the second straight match.
Pascua hurt her knee in UH’s home finale vs. UC Davis last week and could have played Sunday, but Nagamine didn’t want to risk long-term damage.
"These two games we were playing for pride. We were playing to set ourselves up to have a really good spring season, and send our seniors off on a great note," Nagamine said. "And I think we accomplished that. Krystal, she was very engaged. She still led us. She was bringing the team in as it went into overtime, giving them a little pep talk. I was so sad to see her not be able to play, but it just wasn’t worth it to sacrifice her health and well-being for a couple of games."
