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A first-minute lapse proved devastating to the Hawaii soccer team’s last-minute postseason aspirations.
UC Irvine’s Jessica Miclat scored on a misclear just 37 seconds into Friday’s game on the Anteaters’ field, and the Rainbow Wahine were knocked out of contention for the Big West tournament with a 2-1 loss.
“There was a whole bunch of traffic — she shot through the traffic and it went far post,” UH coach Michele Nagamine said in a postgame phone interview. “It was ridiculous. It was totally preventable, but it was a misclear.”
Midfielder Raisa Strom-Okimoto managed to equalize the game in the 11th minute, her sixth score of the season. But the first-place Anteaters (13-5-1, 5-1-1) came back in the 59th minute of their senior night with the game-winner by Kelsey Texeira. Nagamine thought she might have been offside in the box, but no whistle came.
UH (9-5-2, 2-4-1 Big West) needed a victory to stay alive for top-four positioning, but instead dropped to 0-3 on the Big West road and into a tie for sixth. The Wahine will conclude the season at Cal State Northridge (10-4-5, 5-1-1), the national leader in shutouts (13), at 11 a.m. Sunday.
The team’s dream of making its first Big West tournament will have to wait another year. UH is 0-for-5 in qualification since joining the conference in 2012.
“We’re not there yet … but we’re going to focus on the positives this season,” Nagamine said. “Teaching them how to win again, teaching them how to be competitive.”