Honolulu—The University of Hawai'i women's soccer team will open up the 2018 schedule on Friday against No. 11 Texas A&M and Sunday versus Bowling Green at Waipi'o Peninsula Soccer Stadium as part of the Outrigger Soccer Kickoff. 

 

The Rainbow Wahine welcome back 11 letter winners from last season, including eight starters, one of which is All-Big West selection, senior midfielder Raisa Strom-Okimoto. In 2017 she started all 17 matches, finishing second on the team with three goals while leading the team in shots on goal, and will be looked upon as a leader. 

 

For the second consecutive season UH will welcome in a large freshmen class, in 2017 the roster held 10 true freshmen, while 2018 will also have ten, and additional transfer to make the incoming class a total 10 student-athletes. Leading to the program to continue to build towards the future, coming off a 6-10-1 mark from a year ago. 

 

On the flip side in 2017 Texas A&M added to its allure of being one of the top programs in NCAA women's soccer. The Aggies went 18-2-2, capturing a Southeastern Conference tournament title crown over Arkansas with a 2-1 victory, and made it to the second round of the NCAA tournament, falling to Notre Dame. The game concluded with a 2-2 tie, but the Aggies fell 4-1 in penalty kicks.

 

Texas A&M will enter the friendly confines of Waipi'o Stadium looking to continue their toured pace of dominance under head coach G Guerrieri for his 25th season, and a No. 11 ranking. The Rainbow Wahine have not fared very well against ranked opponents over the years for a combined record of 2-28-2. The two wins came within a year of each other in 2007 and 2008. The most recent coming against #23 UC Santa Barbara on September 21st, 2008 with a 2-1 overtime victory. The most recent match against a ranked opponent was in a 5-1 loss to #18 California on September 23rd, 2015, this coming two days after dropping a 2-1 matchup against #3 Stanford on the 21st.

 

UH will then follow up with a matchup against Bowling Green to cap off the Outrigger Soccer Kickoff. BG finished 2017 with a 13-7-1 record falling to Toledo in the Mid-American tournament championship game, 2-1 in overtime.

 

The Rainbow Wahine have never played against Texas A&M and faced off once with Bowling Green in the program's 24-year history. The matchup with Falcons took place on August 31st, 2003, with UH winning 4-0 at home. 

 

BG and Loyola Marymount will matchup before the Rainbow Wahine and Aggies on Friday at 4:30 p.m. HT. LMU will then faceoff with the Aggies on Sunday, before UH and BG at 2:30 p.m. HT. None of the four contest will be streamed, but hawaiiathletics.com will provide live stats.


Outrigger Hotels and Resorts is the tournament sponsor and will award great prizes throughout the weekend. On Sunday, the first 200 fans to visit the Outrigger tent will receive a voucher for a free "Ju Mui Pop" redeemable at the concession stand. Roster sheets, team posters, and schedules cards will be available at the sports marketing table located near the main entrance. Fans can register to participate in the promotional contest at halftime, and enter a drawing contest for the chance to win a UH branded polo shirt and two free tickets to the UH Football home opener. Free "rubbah slippahs" will be distributed to fans while supplies last, courtesy of the UH Soccer team.