WAIPAHU, Hawaii — A season of unprecedented achievement in the Big West Conference was simultaneously one of high drama for the Hawaii soccer team.
As UH readies to host the Big West championship semifinals and final for the first time as the regular-season champion and top seed, it does so with the knowledge that all of the Rainbow Wahine’s program record-eight conference victories came by the narrowest of margins.
The Wahine face fifth-seeded Cal State Bakersfield at 7 p.m. Thursday at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium, following a 4 p.m. matchup between No. 3 UC Santa Barbara and No. 2 UC Davis. Both games are being televised on Spectrum Sports, with the winners advancing to Sunday’s 11 a.m. championship for the right to make the NCAA Tournament.
Big West Coach of the Year Michele Nagamine gave a playful affectation of exasperation when asked about her team’s tendency to face — and succeed in — tense late-game situations. They were 8-0 in one-goal games in the BWC, and 10-2 on the full 20-game season.
“I think what we’ve learned through all of this is that we are just going to keep fighting, and are going to find a way to get the job done,” she said.
UH (12-7-1 overall) defeated the three other semifinal teams during the regular season (CSUB 1-0, UCSB 2-1, UCD 2-1). By going 8-1-1 in conference, the Wahine set a high mark for points atop the table (25) for any team in the four years of the Big West’s current format.
“Having it be so close, I think we’re ready to battle a second time to prove that yeah, we won that, (and) we’re going to stay winning,” said freshman Nalani Damacion, the Big West Midfielder of the Year who is tied for second nationally in game-winning goals with seven.
“If we lose, we’re done, and we’re not ready to be done yet,” said the native of Rocklin, Calif.
Damacion was one of a record-tying seven UH players to receive conference postseason honors on Saturday. With her knack for being in the right place at the right time, she became UH’s first player of the year at that position, as was senior defender Jacey Jicha. Redshirt freshman Kennedy Justin made an improbable climb to goalkeeper of the year after beginning the season behind Brianna Chirpich, who got injured in the first match.
UH has taken the moniker of “second-half team” to new levels. It has been outscored 18-7 in first halves but is doing essentially the opposite to foes in the second, 19-6.
“I wouldn’t say that we are just a second-half team. I think we are a team that plays the full 90,” said forward Amber Gilbert, a Mililani High alumna and one of the fastest players in the conference. “But I know that all the hard work that we put into our offseason really paid off, because it shows that we are that team in the second half. … I don’t think other teams have that, and that’s the difference.”
Bakersfield (7-10-4) is coming off the first Big West tournament win in its history — the biggest overall win in its brief Division I tenure — 1-0 at three-time defending tournament champion UC Irvine on Sunday. UH had a bye into the semifinals because of its top-two seeding.
“We know that this is a motivated team who’s coming in, yes with first-time experience, but a lot of really positive energy and momentum,” Nagamine said. “That makes for a very scary opponent.”
UH holds a 4-11 all-time record in conference tournament matches, including 0-2 in the Big West (2019, 2023).
The only other time Hawaii got to host a conference tournament in the program's 30 seasons of existence was in 2004 in the Western Athletic Conference. The fourth-seeded Wahine fell to Tulsa on penalty kicks after playing to a 1-1 draw in their opening match. Top-seeded SMU beat No. 2 Rice, 2-0, in an all-Texas final at WPSS.
UH’s only tournament title was in the 2007 WAC, when the top-seeded Wahine beat Utah State and Fresno State in Boise, Idaho, and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first and last time to date. Chelsea Deptula was named tournament MVP while Taryn Fukuroku, Jessica Domingo and Koren Takeyama were also named to the all-tournament team.
“You think about the players who went to that last 2007 NCAA championship, it’s something they’ve carried with them for all of these years,” Nagamine said. “They have reunions and get together at our games. I was trying to explain to our team that, this is just like that.”
She is hoping for a large and rowdy Thursday night crowd.
“I hope we get (the UH band),” Nagamine said. “I hope we get the busloads of kids that they’re talking of bringing out, because this is just a really, really special evening. In order for us to get to the NCAAs, we’ve got to win the game on Thursday first, so I’m really hoping people take advantage of something special that is going on at Waipio, and you definitely want to come be a part of it.”
In comparison to last year, when the travel-weary Wahine made the tournament as the sixth and final seed and lost 2-1 at Cal Poly in the first round, Nagamine said legs are fresh and spirits high.
Overtime matches will be settled by penalty kicks if a winner is not decided after two extra 10-minute periods.
UH has made two conference championship game appearances, both in the WAC (2001, 2007).
The WPSS attendance record for a Wahine match is 4,366 against UCLA on Sept. 5, 2014. UH has hovered between 500 and 1,000 per game this season.
In a change from the norm at Waipio, there is no free attendance for spectators. General admission tickets are $24 for an adult and $12 for kids (ages 4 through high school) for an all-session package for Thursday and Sunday, while a ticket for Thursday's semifinals is $12 for adults and $8 for kids.
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.