Waipio, O'ahu—The University of Hawai'i soccer team capitalized on a must-win situation to keep its Big West tournament bid hopes alive with a 2-0 victory over UC Riverside on Thursday night at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium.
 
With the win, the Rainbow Wahine (9-6-1, 4-3 BWC) move into fourth place in the conference standings ahead of UC Davis, which tied with Long Beach State earlier in the day. UH sits ahead of UC Davis at 12 points, compared to 11 and the 'Bows own the tiebreaker with the head-to-head victory from Oct. 7. With the loss, UC Riverside (11-3-3, 2-3-2 BWC) remains at sixth place in the conference standings.
 
A scoreless tie was broken in the 73rd minute when sophomore defender Taylor Mason recorded her first-career assist as she ripped a near perfect cross pass into the box finding senior midfielder Sarah Lau. The Honolulu, O'ahu native sprinted from the top right corner of the box, taking the pass from Mason for a header and beating the UCR goalkeeper, marking her second goal of the season.
 
Moments later in the 78th minute, senior midfielder Raisa Strom-Okimoto blasted a winding left-to-right insurance goal to give the Rainbow Wahine a comfortable two-goal lead. Strom-Okimoto's goal was her team-leading and conference-leading 12th of the season and 22nd of her career.
 
Redshirt junior Alexis Mata turned in another stellar performance as she recorded three saves on the night and notched her sixth shutout of the year. She ranks No. 2 in the conference in shutouts this season.
 
In another pivotal matchup to wrap up the regular season, UH will host Cal State Fullerton on Sunday at 2 p.m. HT. A win by UH will earn them the program's first-ever appearance in the conference tournament.