The Hawaii soccer team got off to a strong start but could not finish Thursday night, as Long Beach State came back from a goal down to win 3-2 at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium.
UH (6-5-1, 1-2 Big West) remained winless in seven years of conference matchups with LBSU (6-4-2, 1-0-1).
“We gotta pay attention to the set pieces. Sometimes when the fatigue sets in, the attention to detail lacks,” UH coach Michele Nagamine said. “We knew exactly what we had to do, and we gapped out in some places. We have to rally for Sunday (5 p.m. vs. UC Davis). Beach is a great team, a perennial powerhouse in our conference and on the national stage. We’ve got a lot of respect for them; they’re a very, very good team. I think their grittiness to finish and get on the ends of balls, that’s massive.”
Leialoha Medeiros’ long throw-in set up an own goal on LBSU in the 23rd minute, but it was quickly answered by Katie Pingel in the 30th to make it 1-1 at halftime.
Taylor Bistline and Sarah Maher scored in an eight-minute span in the second half to give the 49ers a two-goal lead. UH’s Sarah Lau drew a penalty kick with 1:47 left and Medeiros connected for her sixth goal of the season, but UH could not square up a tying shot after that.
“We came out very strong … but toward the middle of the first half, we started not to focus on the little things,” Medeiros said. “Marking up our players. Staying organized. And that’s what it came down to. But I think we had a good response (late) with the second goal.”
UH Hilo soccer teams win on the road
Matt Wilkinson scored off an assist from Bradley Doyle to give the Hawaii Hilo men’s soccer team a 1-0 win over Academy of Art on Thursday in San Francisco.
Wilkinson scored at the 85:21 mark and Nick Williams shut out the Urban Knights (1-7-1, 0-4-1 PacWest) with five saves for the Vulcans (2-6-0, 1-2-0).
>> Maleni Avalos scored at 5:10 off an assist from Lucy Maino and the UH Hilo women’s team earned its fourth straight win with a 1-0 victory against Academy of Art.
Bailey Cahill had three saves for the Vulcans (5-1-2, 2-0-1 PacWest). The Urban Knights fell to 6-5-0, 1-4-0.
