Perspective built in adversity can come in handy when success arrives.

A rough 2021 season provided motivation for the University of Hawaii soccer team’s returnees and a challenging season-opening road trip last month provided an opportunity to meld a sizable group of newcomers into the program.

Since an opening loss at Grand Canyon, the Rainbow Wahine have won four of their last five matches and are looking to ride their momentum and chemistry into their first Big West road trip.

“Sometimes that adversity just makes you stronger and more appreciative of all of the little things that happen,” UH coach Michele Nagamine said in a phone interview following a “high energy” practice at UC Santa Barbara’s Harder Stadium. “Now that they have everybody on the same page, they want to work hard to protect that.”

The Rainbow Wahine (4-2, 1-0 BWC) are off to the program’s hottest start since 2016 and entered the week with the best winning percentage in the conference. They’ll play four of their next five matches on the continent, starting with today’s Big West match with UC Santa Barbara (1-6-3, 0-1).

The Wahine will then make the two-hour drive to San Luis Obispo, Calif., ahead of Sunday’s match at Cal Poly (3-5-0, 1-0).

“They take everything in stride,” Nagamine said. “There’s no big heads, there’s a lot of humility, because we know our biggest tests are ahead of us.

“If there’s anything that they’ve learned, it’s that they can play some pretty nice soccer,” Nagamine said.

The Wahine painted perhaps the prettiest sequence of the season for the deciding goal in last week’s 1-0 win over UC Davis at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium to open conference play.

Forward Krista Peterson sent a pass downfield to Amber Gilbert, who tracked it down in full sprint. Gilbert then fired a cross to Kelci Sumida and the senior found the net for her first goal of the season.

Lauren Marquez finished off her second clean sheet of the season and became the second straight UH goalkeeper to be named the Big West defensive player of the week. Sophie Augustin won the previous award and the UH coaches have the luxury of picking a goalie according to the matchup.

“It’s absolutely phenomenal. Most teams would kill to have one good goalkeeper to keep them in a game,” said Nagamine, who plans to keep today’s starter under wraps until the Wahine take the field. “We’re going to ride this wave as long as we can.”

UCSB opened its conference season with a 4-0 loss at Cal Poly a week ago and played Pacific to a 1-1 draw on Sunday. Meg Burling has three of UCSB’s eight goals in 10 matches.

“They’ve played some very good teams,” Nagamine said. “They’re kind of like us. They’re building their identity, they’re organized, they move the ball really nicely.

“It’s not the easiest, but it’s such a beautiful trip,” she said of the California trek that started with the team’s arrival in Los Angeles on Tuesday and will end with Monday’s departure from San Jose. “I actually really like this trip, but both teams are super hard to play at home.”