Hawaii’s first draw of the season came at a most inopportune time.
UH needed a win against Cal Poly on senior day Sunday, but the Rainbow Wahine got only a 1-1 double-overtime result at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium.
UH (6-8-1, 1-4-1 Big West) needed the three points of a win to stay in the Big West tournament hunt with two road games remaining. Instead, they received just a point after the grueling 110-minute effort and remained in last place in the BWC, essentially knocking them out of contention.
“I really have to hand it to our team. They battled from the beginning,” UH coach Michele Nagamine said. “That’s kind of been the MO of this team. They don’t give up, they fight hard to the end. They knew they needed a win … but what they showed me tonight is our future is very bright.”
Sonest Furtado, one of eight seniors honored afterward, put UH up a goal in the 58th minute on a breakaway effort off a pass from Raisa Strom-Okimoto. Furtado beat the last defender and juked the goalkeeper for a tap-in for her seventh goal of the season.
The Wahine were shooting for their first win against Cal Poly (7-9-3, 2-4-1); they were 0-7 all-time going into Sunday.
“We didn’t get the result that we wanted, but you gotta give it to the whole team for working hard from start to finish,” Furtado said. “The whole, what, 110 minutes everyone played with heart and left it all on the field, and that’s all we can ask for. A tie’s better than a loss. I’m a senior. I’m happy.”
UH’s other honored seniors were Dani Crawford, Keala Parker-Lee, Paige Okazaki, Kellsie Gleason, Bo Samson, Spenser Jaye and Evelyn Fierros.
Furtado — fresh off her 14th career goal to move her into sole possession of 10th all-time for UH — had a give-and-go play in the box with Strom-Okimoto a couple of minutes later for a potential 2-0 lead, but Mustangs keeper Sophia Brown snuffed it out just in time.
“(Strom-Okimoto) did everything right, she played it off for me,” Furtado said. “I knew at that moment I should’ve put that away. That’s going to haunt me forever.”
Cal Poly equalized in the 74th on a header goal by Emily Hansen after she beat UH keeper Alexis Mata to the ball.
Sarah Lau saved UH early in the first OT with a goal-line deflection of a CP rocket shot that got past Mata.