A stubborn defensive effort on the road was not enough for the Hawaii women’s soccer team, which fell 2-0 at Washington State on Friday.

UH’s school-record-tying seven-game unbeaten streak was snapped at the hands of a bigger, stronger opponent of the Pac-12 Conference playing on its home turf in Pullman, Wash. The Cougars broke through with both goals in the second half.

“They were so explosive, and they had great size,” UH coach Michele Nagamine said in a postgame phone interview. “They worked extremely hard off the ball. When somebody puts the ball at their feet, they just fly forward.

“I’m not going to make excuses for us. We’re not quite at that level just yet. … But I thought this was a very good game for us.”

The Rainbow Wahine (5-2-2) were outshot 15-4 by the Cougars (5-1), and were shut out for the first time since their season-opening loss at Nevada. UH dropped to 1-2 on the road this season going into Sunday’s 10 a.m. contest at Eastern Washington.

UH lost sophomore forward Tiana Fujimoto to a nagging calf and ankle ailment 20 minutes into the match, costing the Wahine their top offensive threat the rest of the way. Nagamine said Fujimoto, who leads the Big West Conference with six goals, is questionable for Sunday.

Nagamine still compared the match favorably to WSU’s 3-1 result that spoiled her UH coaching debut last season.

WSU used its size advantage at every position to keep possession for much of the first half, resulting in several scoring chances.

Despite getting outshot 7-1 in the period, UH earned a scoreless tie into halftime, thanks in part to goalkeeper Kanani Taaca’s four first-half saves. 

UH kept the stalemate going for 15 minutes in the second half, until Micaela Castain broke through with a point-blank header on a cross in the 62nd minute for her seventh score in six matches. When the Wahine defense let up, Jocelyn Jeffers added a breakaway score in the 80th to all but seal it.

UH is 4-28-1 all-time against Pac-12 teams, including 0-5 vs. Wazzu, which is receiving votes in the NSCAA Top 25 poll.