WAIPAHU, O'ahu – After nearly 80 scoreless minutes the Hawai'i women's soccer team broke through with two goals within 38 seconds to take a 2-0 victory over Idaho on Thursday and improve to 4-0-1 on the season. Thursday's game was the opening match of the third and final weekend of the Outrigger Soccer Classic Series.
Sophomore
Raisa Strom-Okimoto converted a penalty kick with 10:10 remaining in the game after senior
Addie Steiner was taken down in the box. Just 38 seconds later, Strom-Okimoto found sophomore
Kellsie Gleason in the box, and Gleason put the Rainbow Wahine ahead 2-0 after beating Idaho (1-2-1) goalkeeper Torell Stewart from about 15 yards out. It was Gleason's first goal this season.
"It sure feels good," Hawai'i head coach
Michele Nagamine said after the win. "I thought tonight was probably our most complete performance. We really stuck to our game plan and moved the ball nicely. Idaho is a great team. They were very disciplined, they press like crazy. I was really impressed with the amount of energy and fitness level they had. I'm proud of the team that we stuck in there all the way down to the last 10 minutes. I'm really thrilled for them. They have absolutely earned this."
Senior goalkeeper
Monk Berger posted five saves in the shuthout, her second consecutive clean sheet and the 11
th of her career. Hawai'i had a 17-10 advantage in shots and 8-4 advantage in corner kicks.
Hawai'i extends its winning streak to four games and its unbeaten streak to five with the win. The Rainbow Wahine will have the chance to match their best six-game start since 2007 on Friday night when they take on Saint Mary's College at 7 p.m. The 2007 Rainbow Wahine started the season 2007 5-0-1 before being dealt their first loss.
"Our legs are going to be tired. Idaho is a very physical opponent and they definitely made us work," Nagamine said looking ahead to Friday's contest. "We have a lot of starters who got a lot of minutes, but this is what we've been prepping for since the summertime."
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