Tribune-Herald Tribune-Herald ADVERTISING The University of Hawaii women are used to good things happening to them at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium. Still, the Rainbow Wahine hadn’t enjoyed this sort of modest offensive explosion in a while. Krystal Pascua, Tiana Fujimoto
Tribune-Herald
The University of Hawaii women are used to good things happening to them at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium. Still, the Rainbow Wahine hadn’t enjoyed this sort of modest offensive explosion in a while.
Krystal Pascua, Tiana Fujimoto and Alex Gerrain each scored goals Friday night on Oahu as Hawaii rode a dominating first half and held off Cal Davis 3-2 to snap a three-game losing streak.
Hawaii (7-8-2, 2-4 Big West) is undefeated in 13 of its past 14 home matches, and it produced its best scoring output against Division I
competition since a 3-3 draw against Drexel on Aug. 31, a span of 12 matches.
In the first meeting between the programs, Lexi Popoff and Ashley Edwards scored on the only two shots the Aggies put on frame.
Hawaii moved within a point of Cal Davis (7-7-2, 2-3-1), which is tied for sixth, and kept its faint postseason hopes alive.
Outclassed during the first 45 minutes, Popoff took a drop pass and gave Cal Davis life by chipping a ball over goalkeeper Kanani Taaca to cut UH’s lead to 2-1 in the 49th minute.
Gerrain, a freshman, restored the two-goal lead in the 77th minute, intercepting an errant clearing attempt and blasting a shot to produce her second goal of the season.
Edwards scored with just under four minutes left, but the Aggies couldn’t muster another shot.
Playing for the first time in five days, Hawaii looked sharp from the start in the first half, outshooting Cal Davis 10-1 and getting goals
on a pair of strong individual efforts from two of its sophomore playmakers.
Pascua scored her fourth goal of the season in the 14th minute, and Fujimoto netted her team-high seventh goal three minutes later.
With three matches left, Hawaii is six points behind fourth-place Cal State Fullerton (4-2) and Long Beach State (4-2) in the race to grab a spot at the four-team Big West tournament.
The ‘Bows will honor seniors Taaca, Rachel Domingo, Amber Fuller, Michelle Nakasone, and Christy Watanabe before their final home match of the season at 5 p.m. Sunday against Pacific. The match is on OC16.
