Rainbow Wahine fall to Idaho in soccer

The University of Hawaii women’s soccer team was unable to carry its recent success on the road, falling 4-2 to Idaho in Western Athletic Conference action in Moscow, Idaho, on Friday afternoon.

UH (3-9, 2-1 WAC) remained in first place in the conference with six points with four league games to play.

In the teams’ final meeting as conference opponents, Idaho (5-8-2, 1-2) was hungry for its first WAC win of the season, scoring goals in the 15th and 35th minutes for a 2-0 halftime lead.

“Idaho came out really, really intense. They had good pace,” first-year UH coach Michele Nagamine said in a postgame phone interview.

“We’re not going to sneak up on anybody. Everybody’s going to pay attention to you (in our position). This is just another experience we have to go through. … We need to be better when things don’t go our way. That was a valuable lesson that we learned today.”

She also said UH was out of its comfort zone with temperatures in the low 50s. UH dropped to 0-6 on the mainland this year, but goals by midfielders Krystal Pascua and senior Rachel Domingo in the 65th and 85th minutes snapped a streak of four scoreless matches away from home. It was the second straight game the freshman Pascua scored and the first goal of the season for the senior Domingo.

UH stays on the road for a nonconference match against Seattle University (8-5) on Sunday, then returns to the islands for its final two WAC home matches at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium next Friday and Sunday.

7 Wahine softball players are scholars

Seven University of Hawaii softball players were named National Fastpitch Coaches Association Scholar-Athletes for the 2011 season.

Alexandra Aguirre, Jori Jasper, Kelly Majam, Dara Pagaduan, Rachel Paragas, Stephanie Ricketts and Sarah Robinson qualified by maintaining a cumulative 3.50 GPA or higher for the fall and spring semesters combined.

Aguirre, an English major who batted .290 last season, and Majam, a secondary education major who led the team with doubles and walks, were named to the team for the third time. Jasper, Pagaduan and Ricketts were named for the second time.

The softball team plays an Alumnae Game on Oct. 29 at 4 p.m. at the Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.

Hawaii ranked 94th best sports city

Honolulu has been ranked the 94th best sports city in America in The Sporting News’ annual rankings.

Honolulu was just behind Hattiesburg, Miss., and ahead of Pullman, Wash. (95); Ames, Iowa (96); and Las Vegas (97).

The top five are: Dallas-Fort Worth, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago and New York. Last, at 271, was Lorman, Miss.

The magazine said it looked, “at the 12 months from summer 2010 to summer 2011” and ranked, “based on point values assigned to various categories, including but not limited to, won-lost records, postseason appearances, applicable power ratings, number of teams and attendance.”