WAIPAHU, Hawaii — The Hawaii soccer team digested setbacks of both the immediate and long-term variety on Sunday.
Utah State, the reigning Mountain West Conference champion, proved too much to handle for the Rainbow Wahine in a 3-0 loss at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium.
[Note: See below for more photos of the UH-USU match.]
Afterward, coach Michele Nagamine revealed that redshirt freshman Kennedy Justin, who made her first career start in goal, would be the team’s keeper going forward. Junior Brianna Chirpich suffered a season-ending injury in the final minute of Thursday’s 3-2 win over Georgia Southern when an Eagles player collided with her.
“Bree is going to be out the whole season,” Nagamine said. “It’s one of those things we couldn’t help. The late hit at the end of the game (Thursday), I don’t think it was intentional, but it was definitely unnecessary.”
Utah State, a senior-laden group, hit UH with a salvo of three goals in three minutes in the first half. The Wahine settled down after that, but the damage was done. Justin, a 5-foot-10 native of Long Beach, Calif., recorded eight saves in the loss.
“Asking Kennedy to come on as a redshirt freshman, no game minutes, I have a lot of respect for the game she put together,” Nagamine said. “Some of the goals she let in were not her fault.”
Bizzy Arevalo (21st minute), Tess Werts (22nd) and Summer Diamond (24th) struck in succession with some unselfish passing by the Aggies (2-0), who claimed the Outrigger Kickoff tournament title. USU's Kylie Olsen was named tournament MVP.
It amounted to a learning experience for UH, which was in disarray in its box.
“We got caught a little bit,” senior co-captain Mia Foster said. “We couldn’t adjust our head at that moment. It sucks, but it is also a learning curve. When that happens, we need to have a game plan. We just can’t be all over the place like that. We gotta stop the bleeding somehow.”
Said Nagamine, “Some of us missed the mark today and have a lot of reflection to do. When it’s a physical mismatch, that’s one thing, but when the problem is between the ears, that’s another thing.”
UH (1-1) now readies for its lone power conference opponent on the schedule in Baylor (1-1). The Wahine face the Bears at 7 p.m. Wednesday to open the Outrigger Invitational. The game will be televised on Spectrum Sports.
Sophomore Natalie Dobler, of Kyritz, Germany, is the team’s new backup goalkeeper.
Nalani Damacion, who had the game-winning goal against Georgia Southern, was named Big West Freshman of the Week on Monday. She’s the first Rainbow Wahine player to ever take home that award in the first week of the season.
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.