It was a return to the familiar and the all too familiar for Hawaii on Thursday night at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium.

The sights and sounds and the ambiance of a night game under the lights were some things the Rainbow Wahine missed the past few weeks playing on campus and on the road. Unfortunately for them, something hitched a ride to the park — another loss in a one-goal game as No. 24 Washington State prevailed 1-0.

UH (2-5-1) lost its third straight and was shut out for the fourth time this season. All but one of its losses, and both of its wins, have come by a single goal.

“It’s coming. We’re going to keep saying this until we finally get it, and when it comes, we’re going to get a bunch of goals,” said senior forward Kayla Watanabe, who had all three of UH’s official shot attempts. “We’re right there. We’re missing it just by a little bit. When it finally connects, we’re going to be winning a lot of games.”

A chemical runoff from the stands onto the field in late July caused UH to play its first four home games of the season on its campus practice field. The grass since recovered enough to warrant a return, UH decided last week.

After UH recorded the first shot — and shot on goal — of the match by Watanabe, the pressure was applied almost entirely by the Cougars until halftime, when the shot count stood 10-1.

Several close calls in front of the Wahine net finally elicited a header goal by Shayna Whieldon in the 41st minute.

UH’s best attempt came 10 minutes into the second half, when freshman Kelci Sumida sent up a cross for Watanabe, but keeper Ella Dederick punched it out just as Watanabe got her head on it.

Senior goalkeeper Lex Mata helped keep it close with a season-high 10 saves as the Cougars (6-1) rang up 18 shots.

“Physical specimens on the field everywhere for them,” UH coach Michele Nagamine said. “They’ve got pace, they’ve got size, they’re good in the air, they move the ball well. It was just, talk about explosive.

“(We) worked very, very hard, but there were some things that we could have been a lot more efficient at. We’re gonna get back to that. We got a little predictable in the attack, I thought, but we went forward, and that was a very, very good thing.”

It gets no easier to conclude the Rainbow Wahine Shootout at 3:30 p.m. Sunday. The Wahine face No. 5 UCLA (5-1-1), which drew 2-2 with Pepperdine (3-3-2) preceding UH’s match.

UH has never beaten a Pac-12 opponent at WPSS. It is now 0-14-1 there against the Power Five league.