Hawaii soccer’s senior night tradition lives on.
While the lei and the ohana celebration on the field remain staples, so too does something else, maybe more than anything else.
Getting blasted by the visiting team.
UC Santa Barbara rolled in with senior forward Shaelan Murison leading the charge with a hat trick, and the Gauchos rolled out with three valuable points in the Big West standings from their 4-1 victory.
UH, which took its first conference loss, hasn’t won its final home game since 2013.
“I’m beginning to hate senior night … it’s a tough night,” said coach Michele Nagamine, whose teams are 2-5-2 in home finales. “Usually you want to celebrate and send them out on a good note. But no, I’m just kidding. It was a tough one. There’s a lot of emotions, a lot of distractions this week, and we just didn’t take care of business.
“They were technically and tactically better than us. Period. No excuses.”
The Rainbow Wahine (5-7-3, 3-1-2 BWC) remain on track for their first Big West tournament, but their margin for error narrowed going into the final week of the regular season as they managed just one point in their final two home games. They sit at 11 points, tied with UCSB, with Cal State Fullerton (15) and Cal State Northridge (12) leading the pack.
They’ll likely need at least a win at UC Davis (2-5) on Thursday and Long Beach State (2-4) on Sunday to do it.
“I definitely think going on the road, we know what we have to fix, we know what we have to do. And I’m confident we’ll be OK,” said senior forward Kayla Watanabe, a graduate transfer from Idaho who celebrated her second senior night — but the first up to her eyeballs in lei.
Murison wasted little time in showing why she is the conference leader in goals. She came in with 13 and left with 16 to stand in the top five nationally.
She netted her first just eight minutes in, freezing a couple of Wahine defenders with shot fakes before burying a grounder to the far post.
“I do take responsibility for not coming out and installing the confidence in my back line like I should’ve,” said senior goalkeeper Lex Mata, who also tipped her cap to Murison. “It’s just a game I wish I could have back. But it’s senior night and I’m going to try to enjoy it while I have it.”
Murison added a second in the 28th minute on a set piece lobbed into the box by a teammate. The Wahine defense was caught ball-watching as Murison slipped in behind to receive a pass sent across the goal.
“I just get momentum from my team, really, and I just finish whatever they put out on the table for me,” Murison said.
UCSB’s 2-0 halftime lead was trimmed in half in the 51st when freshman Kelci Sumida drew a penalty kick on a corner kick rebound. Sumida’s shot on goal deflected off a Gaucho hand in the box and sophomore Kayla Ryan followed by connecting on the penalty shot for her team-high fifth goal of the year.
But the Gauchos put it away in the 79th with a power shot by Jessica Wright from just outside the box, set up by Murison on a drop-off pass.
For good measure, Murison reversed direction from the corner and along the goal line with the seconds ticking down and blasted one in from close range with 10.1 seconds left to complete her trick.
“I think she was very adamant about making a statement tonight,” Nagamine said.