It was tantamount to disrespecting the game.

That’s what Hawaii coach Michele Nagamine extracted from her team’s disheartening 2-0 home loss to Long Beach State in a crucial Big West Conference match on Thursday. Then, in her postgame talk with her team, she threatened to make wholesale lineup changes to generate the urgency the Rainbow Wahine so glaringly lacked on the Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium field.

"I’d rather respect the game and lose with integrity, than disrespect the game and lose the way that we did today," a disgusted Nagamine said.

That starts with a practice on Saturday that the coach said will consist entirely of running.

UH (6-9, 1-4 Big West) is in dire straights with three matches remaining before the conference tournament. The Wahine must realistically win out to have a chance to finish in the top four, and will likely need some help around the league, too.

That’s partly why the lackluster performance was so baffling.

"This (loss) hopefully doesn’t kill us, but I just don’t see a very big bright light at the end of the tunnel," she said. "It’s just shocking to me that we are not better than this, so I’m going to have to really think about some of the stuff that’s been going on and what I can do to be better. Obviously, these guys are a reflection of me, so I’m going to accept that responsibility, because obviously I must be doing something wrong to not be getting them going, or maybe I’ve created too much of a comfort zone. So maybe we’re going to have to mix it up a little bit."

UH, the highest-scoring team in the league entering the night, was shut out in consecutive matches for the first time since the first two contests of 2013.

"The energy up top was just not really to the level it usually is," senior midfielder Hayden Gibson said. "We came up with possessions, but it was like that final step, that final incentive to want to put the ball in the net. We were taking shots from too far out because there wasn’t any energy at the top. So that’s frustrating, but Long Beach is still a really good team."

LBSU’s assist leader, Mimi Rangel, got the 49ers on the board in the 28th minute on an impressive, unassisted lob shot from about 25 yards out. The ball sailed over the head of goalkeeper Erica Young and in by the far post.

An unforced UH giveaway on defense in the 52nd minute proved fatal as Vania Robles collected the ball and scooted it past Young.

Nagamine did wholesale substations soon afterward, including inserting Monk Berger in goal for Young. Berger’s last appearance was eight matches prior.

UH actually outshot LBSU (6-5-5, 2-1-2) 13-7, but few looks were of high quality. The best came when Krystal Pascua fired a shot off the right post in the opening moments of the second half.

LBSU coach Mauricio Ingrassia called UH "the most explosive team in the conference" and was relieved to leave the islands with three points in the standings.

"We were fortunate enough to be the ones to score first. That changes things, changes the momentum," Ingrassia said. "Because UH is a little desperate for points, and they’ve got to come out and take chances."