WAIPAHU, Hawaii — On a breezy Wednesday night with far more open space in the Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium stands than what was occupied, Hawaii desired to prove a point to itself: On the right night, it can hang with a big dog.
The Rainbow Wahine succeeded in making it a game with the Baylor Bears of the Big 12 Conference but headed back home on H-1 contemplating the what-ifs of a 1-0 loss.
UH (1-2) created action around the Bears’ box for much of the game, outshooting the visitors from Waco, Texas, 14-8, including 7-3 on goal. It had six corner kick opportunities in the second half.
“We totally did (prove something),” said senior midfielder Brynn Mitchell, who tied for team-high honors with three shot attempts. “Our goal was to set the tone and let them know that we’re not just some small Hawaii team. We’re here to compete and we’re going to fight no matter what. I think they’ll remember us from this game, for sure.”
Baylor put in the winning score off a rebound by Callie Conrad in the 73rd minute after UH freshman goalkeeper Kennedy Justin deflected the initial cross.
Now UH will have to show itself it can dig deep, too. It faces Portland (1-0-1) of the West Coast Conference at 7 p.m. on Thursday night in an unconventional format of the Outrigger Invitational. It is the first time since 2018 that UH will play soccer on back-to-back days, a situation that is usually avoided.
“It takes about 72 hours to recover from a soccer match … with this kind of intensity,” UH coach Michele Nagamine said. “We’re just hoping we have some legs tomorrow.”
UH will gather Thursday morning for a recovery session, do a quick film session on Portland in the afternoon and head back out to WPSS.
The tournament went from four teams to three when Bowling Green dropped out ahead of the season, forcing some adjustments in the schedule. Baylor will play Portland on Sunday.
After speaking to her team at length after Wednesday’s loss, Nagamine said she was encouraged by the two halves her team put together.
“The way this team played tonight just shows what I’ve said all along: Don’t count this team out,” Nagamine said.
Baylor (2-1) was coming off a 5-2 thumping of St. Bonaventure in its home opener and suffered its loss to a ranked foe in Mississippi State.
The Bears, coached by Michelle have two elite eight appearances in the NCAA tournament in their history. Their last big season was in 2018, when they won 20 games and reached the quarterfinals.
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.