WAIPAHU, Hawaii — Video replay was so effective for the Hawaii soccer team last week that it merited a second look.

UH again benefited from — and capitalized on — a penalty kick awarded after a referee consulted a nearby monitor for a televised game as it beat Cal State Bakersfield, 1-0, at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium on a sticky Thursday night.

“There have been many, many times where I have been on the other end of the stick, so I’m just going to go with it,” Rainbow Wahine coach Michele Nagamine said of the recent pivotal calls. “That’s the crazy game, right? You just never know what’s going to happen.”

Underscoring that notion, the same Rainbow Wahine (6-6 overall) who dropped six of seven matches during a three-week stretch have now won four straight for the first time since 2016. They are 2-0 in Big West play for only the second time (2019) in their membership in the league that dates to 2012.

Fabiola Zamora put in the deciding ball on the PK in the 79^th minute once Alice Davidson drew the foul by launching a ricocheted ball back into the CSUB box, causing it to deflect off the arm of leaping Roadrunners captain Megan Ormson.

Play was allowed to continue for a few moments until referee Sean Wright blew the action dead and went to look at a monitor. It didn’t take him long to award a penalty kick.

Zamora, of Cupertino, Calif., stepped up and tapped the ball inside the left post while CSUB goalkeeper Hollee Hercik guessed the other way.

The fourth-year junior said she felt some nerves, but mostly she was honored to have the trust of her coaches and teammates in that situation. It was Zamora’s third career goal and second in two matches including UH’s 4-1 win over Hawaii Pacific on Sunday.

She was all for video review, commonly referred to as VAR (video assistant referee) in soccer, a relatively new addition to Wahine home matches that are televised on Spectrum Sports.

“I think for the advancement of the game, we have to follow along with what the professionals are doing because at the end of the day it’s about making correct calls,” Zamora said. “Maybe a couple years back they would’ve missed it and it would’ve been a different game. It’s good that we’re progressing in the game, all the leagues around the world.”

Unlike last Thursday’s 2-1 win over UC Davis, there wasn’t much of an objection from the visiting side.

Second-year CSUB coach Bernardo Silva thought his team gave a strong enough effort to get out of Waipahu with a draw and a single point in the Big West standings, but the ‘Runners could not maintain their early momentum.

“Unfortunate that it comes down to a PK situation. But … I think VAR is a part of the game in this day and age,” Silva told Spectrum News. “Earlier this year we had a (video-reviewed) call (go our way), so I feel like it will all equal out. I think it’s a good thing that we have that in the game because it helps the referee make the right call.”

Both sides agreed that the Roadrunners had the better opportunities in the first half, when they outshot UH 7-3. But a road-heavy nonconference schedule for CSUB (2-8-1, 0-1 BWC) did not pay off on this night as it dropped to 0-7 in such contests.

UH redshirt freshman goalkeeper Kennedy Justin picked up the first shutout of her career, needing to save only one CSUB shot on goal in the first half.

After the comfort of two single-game Big West weeks at home, travel returns starting next week as UH heads to Cal State Northridge (3-7-1, 1-0-1) for a Thursday meeting with first-year coach Gina Brewer, a former UH assistant under Pinsoom Tenzing and a former head coach at Hawaii Pacific. UH then hosts longtime nemesis Cal State Fullerton (2-7-2, 0-1-1) at home Sunday in a split road/home week.

Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.