Hawaii bolted to an early lead only to be caught by Cal Poly in the final seconds and the Rainbow Wahine settled for a 2-2 draw in Sunday’s Big West soccer match in San Luis Obispo, Calif.
The Rainbow Wahine took a 2-0 lead less than seven minutes into the match on goals by forwards Krista Peterson and Amber Gilbert. Cal Poly broke through with a goal by Peja Balanon less than a minute into the second half and kept the pressure on into the final minute.
A collision between UH’s Eve Bleam and Cal Poly’s Madison Demijohn resulted in the Mustangs being awarded a free kick from the top of the box. Cal Poly senior Monserrat Hernandez Marquez took the kick, and with the UH wall to her left, fired low to the right. Her shot got past diving UH goalkeeper Lauren Marquez for the tying goal with 15 seconds left.
UH (4-2-2, 1-0-2 Big West) came away with two points on its two-match road trip. Yet, “It’s very bittersweet. It’s a very tough pill to swallow … because we played good enough to win,” UH coach Michele Nagamine said in a phone interview.
Cal Poly took 18 shots, putting eight on goal, to UH’s five and took 13 corner kicks. UH starting goalkeeper Sophie Augustin made five saves before leaving with an injury with about 20 minutes left.
“They’ve got a lot of explosive offensive players and they’re relentless in their attack,” Nagamine said of the Mustangs.
UH will have the week to regroup before facing Long Beach State on Oct. 2 at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium.
“It comes down to all of us. We’re winning as a team and were tying as a team,” Nagamine said. “We’ll be better for this. It builds a lot of perspective and we have to focus on Long Beach.”
UH sailors compete at PCCSC Championships
The Hawaii sailing team opened the 2022-23 season this past weekend with the PCCSC Men’s and Women’s Singlehanded Championships.
Bastien Rasse finished in third place with 26 points. He finished in the top three in each of the nine total races conducted. Also finishing in third place was Mercy Tangredi, who led the UH women’s team with 28 points.
Stanford’s Chapman Peterson and Hallie Schiffman won the men’s and women’s championships respectively, and both qualified for the ICSA Singlehanded Nationals later this fall.
The Rainbow Warriors will head to the East coast for the Atlantic Coast Championships. The Rainbow Wahine will head to New England on Oct. 1-2, and the coed team will travel to King’s Point, N.Y. on Oct. 8-9.
