WAIPAHU, Hawaii — Upon further review, the Hawaii soccer team has proven it can be dangerous on the right night.
Whether the Rainbow Wahine were inspired by their pregame rendition of the "Happy Birthday" song for coach Michele Nagamine, or amped up to play the Big West team with the best nonconference resume in UC Davis, UH played with an edge and was rewarded for it with a 2-1 win over UCD at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium on Thursday night.
[Note: See below for more photos of the UCD-UH match.]
“Best birthday present ever,” said Nagamine, still damp from a celebratory ice jug dousing from her players. “I hope this game shows them that they can play with anybody, and that they just need to believe in themselves and what we can do when we show up for two halves.”
It was the third straight year that UH (4-6 overall) won its Big West opener, all at home.
Freshman Nalani Damacion recorded her Big West-leading fourth game-winner of the season on a 51st-minute penalty kick earned when speedy forward Amber Gilbert was pulled down as she approached the penalty box.
Every victory for UH this season has featured a Damacion go-ahead score. Nagamine asked her several games back if she’d be willing to take a penalty shot in the event that senior captain Mia Foster was not on the field, like Thursday.
“I love PKs, personally,” Damacion said. “I’ve always loved them and I was very confident going up. I just knew we’d be up 2-1 and then we just had to hold it.”
There was some controversy on the PK call.
Referee Michael Gebreslassie initially called the foul outside of the box but consulted a video review monitor between the teams’ benches; because the game was televised on Spectrum Sports, replay was available. After several minutes, he awarded the penalty kick over the objections of the Davis side. Nagamine, who acknowledged that “some things went our way” on the night, said that Gebreslassie explained that a yellow card-worthy infraction was committed as Gilbert was about to move into the box.
UCD coach Tracy Joyner credited UH for playing hard, thereby throwing her team off its game, but she had issues with the pivotal PK.
“If I’m being honest, that was the worst penalty call I’ve ever seen and (I’m) shocked that after reviewing it, he still called it,” Joyner said. “Anyway, we’ll review it ourselves.”
Joyner said that play and a benign stoppage with 2:21 remaining were the first instances her program had seen of video review employed in a Big West match. Nagamine also said she had questions about the process, which was new to her staff.
“I’m glad it happened now,” Joyner said of the long trip to the islands with nine Big West games still to play. “It just is something that will help us get better moving forward, acknowledging that it’s really difficult to play on the road. And also teams that play against us, their biggest ability to knock us off our game is with their energy and their work rate and Hawaii did a great job of that tonight.”
Damacion, either unaware or unconcerned about the hubbub about the call, stepped up without hesitation upon the whistle signal and put her well-placed ball toward the right post, away from diving goalkeeper Caeley Goldstein.
Brynn Mitchell answered a 10th-minute score by UCD’s Emma Vane with a grounder off the right post less than a minute later for her team-leading fourth goal.
After Damacion’s goal, redshirt freshman keeper Kennedy Justin kept her defense organized to the point that she was not seriously tested even as Davis (7-3, 0-1), the Big West’s top-scoring team, made one attacking run after the next.
“I think us keeping all of our line together as a team, and teamwork (was key),” said Justin, who had six of her seven saves after intermission. “Every person on that field gave 110 (percent), and that’s what kept us in the game.”
Nagamine credited assistant coach Noe Kong-Johnson for riling up the team before kickoff. The Aggies were coming off a 4-3 home win over LSU on Sunday and had posted a 4-0 road record, while UH eked out a 2-1 win at Portland State to salvage a positive result during a 10-day, three-game road trip.
“The hardest thing to do against a team that has had such an incredible preseason is to come out like you’re ready,” Nagamine said. “We tried to quiet all the voices and focus on us. The fact that we’ve been saying all along, ‘hey you guys, we’re a good team. We just gotta all show up on the same day.’”
Nagamine improved to 2-1 on her birthday in her 14 years at UH.
UH takes on Division II neighbor Hawaii Pacific at WPSS at 4 p.m. Sunday leading into another single-game Big West week, as Cal State Bakersfield (2-7-1) comes to town on Thursday.
Correction: A previous version of the story named the wrong assistant coach as credited by Michele Nagamine for firing up the Rainbow Wahine before the match.
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.