WAIPAHU, O'ahu – The University of Hawai'i soccer team erased an early 1-0 deficit to build a 2-1 first-half lead over UC Irvine on Sunday, but was unable to hold on, falling 3-2 in Big West Conference action.
 
The Anteaters (8-3-4, 3-0-1 Big West) opened the scoring 15 minutes into the contest. UH (5-7, 0-3 Big West) was whistled for a foul just outside of its own penalty box, and UC Irvine's Lili Andino beat UH goalkeeper Alexis Mata on the free kick to give the Anteaters a 1-0 lead.
 
Hawai'i answered immediately. Raisa Strom-Okimoto played a corner kick to Keala Parker-Lee outside the box, who then serviced it into the penalty area, finding Dani Crawford who beat UC Irvine goalkeeper Maddie Newsom with header to even the score in the 17th minute.
 
It didn't take the Rainbow Wahine long to build a 2-1 advantage. Leialoha Medeiros scored her first career goal when she took a pass from Sonest Furtado in the box, turned, and fired a shot past Newsome to put the 'Bows on top in the 24th minute.
 
The Anteaters, however, evened the score before halftime, taking advantage of a counter-attack to in the 38th minute as Noeal Baham evened the score.
 
UC Irvine got the decisive score in the 72nd minute when Kiana Palacios beat Mata to put the Anteaters ahead 3-2. UH managed four would-be game-tying shots in the final 17 minutes--including a header from Tia Furuta that just missed wide--but was unable to find the equalizer.
 
The Anteaters held a 25-14 advantage in shots in the game, but UH had the edge, 10-9, in shots on goal. UC Irvine 8-4 in corner kicks. Mata came up with six saves for UH while Newsom finished with seven.
 
The Rainbow Wahine remain home for their next three games, hosting UC Santa Barbara (Oct. 12) and CSUN (Oct. 15) next week before welcoming Cal Poly for Senior Night on Oct. 22.