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Hawaii goalkeeper Lauren Marquez made five saves, including a diving stop in the final minutes, and the Rainbow Wahine soccer team opened a Big West road trip with a scoreless draw with UC Santa Barbara on Thursday in Santa Barbara, Calif.
UCSB took 12 shots to UH’s seven, and Elise Ziem put three on goal. But Marquez, the reigning Big West defensive player of the week, turned the Gauchos away in her second straight shutout and third of the season.
“She was phenomenal. She was the player of the match in my opinion, and I think everybody else in here,” UH coach Michele Nagamine said in a phone interview. “She pulled some big-time saves, and she kept us in the game.”
The Wahine had a couple of opportunities to break the tie late in the match when UH forward Amber Gilbert had a shot tipped away and defender Jacey Jicha’s shot off of a corner kick sailed high.
“For a little while we chased them. It took us a while to get our bearings and once we got a little bit more organized we had some more threatening opportunities,” Nagamine said. “But Lauren was the difference-maker tonight.”
UH (4-2-1, 1-0-1 Big West) picked up a point in the standings to start the road trip and continues on to Cal Poly for a match on Sunday in San Luis Obispo, Calif.
