WAIPAHU, Hawaii — Over the course of the last decade, the gatekeepers of Big West soccer have regularly demonstrated the gap between where Hawaii is and where the Rainbow Wahine need to get.
One of those sentinels, Long Beach State, did so again Sunday afternoon at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium in a clinical 2-0 win by the perennially contending Beach.
“For us, it was an eye-opening experience because (the UH players) got exposure to the best of the Big West,” coach Michele Nagamine said. "(Beach players) were disciplined, they had a game plan, and they stuck to it.”
She marveled at the Beach’s off-the-ball movement and industriousness, while she sensed a dulled edge from her team for the first time since a season-opening loss to Grand Canyon.
The yellow-garbed team struck twice in the first half — on a give-and-go corner kick set piece by Cherrie Cox in the 17th minute and on a header by Big West scoring leader Lena Silano in the 31st — to dictate the outcome.
With its first loss in five games and first in conference play, UH (4-3-2 overall) dropped to 1-1-2 and sixth place in the Big West. The Wahine have six matches remaining to try to secure top-six positioning to qualify for the conference tournament.
The Beach (4-4, 3-0-1) stands in first.
Beach goalkeeper Zora Standifer stopped seven Hawaii shots, but rarely had to work to get them. Amber Gilbert placed three on frame and Kelci Sumida two.
UH dropped to 0-7-3 against Long Beach in the teams’ conference matchups since the Rainbow Wahine joined the Big West in soccer in 2012.
This time LBSU even had to play at Cal State Fullerton on Thursday before flying into the islands, while UH had all week to prepare. The Beach swept the week, with Silano scoring in both matches to reach a league-best nine goals.
“It’s hard to replicate that exact pressure in practice,” forward Krista Peterson said. “We did our best to help prepare, but Long Beach is a great team. They came out pretty hot and I think they wanted it a little bit more than we did today.”
The goal by Cox seemed to catch the Wahine off guard. On a corner kick, she tapped a pass to Sophie Jones, who slid it back to her at the edge of the box. An open Cox dribbled closer and had a clean angle around goalkeeper Lauren Marquez to the back post.
“That was ridiculous,” Nagamine said. “She dribbled right in and nobody stepped to the ball to pressure, so against a team like that that has a pretty explosive offense that can finish balls from everywhere, what do you expect is going to happen?”
Silano was similarly unmarked as she headed in a cross from Cox beautifully.
Marquez saved four shots.
UH has little time to dwell on it, as it leaves Tuesday for a road trip to play the two teams at the bottom of the standings, Cal State Northridge (2-11-1, 0-4-1) on Thursday and UC San Diego (1-8-4, 0-2-2) on Sunday.
“We’re going to process this, and not pointing fingers, it was all on us. We have to better and hopefully we’ll rebound,” Nagamine said.
A few more shots of the day:
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii.