Honolulu—The University of Hawai'i soccer team will play its first-ever Big West Conference Tournament match on Thursday as the No. 4 seed against No. 1 seed, Cal State Fullerton at 5:30 p.m. HT.
Match #18 Information:
TEAMS: Hawai'i (6-7-4, 4-1-3), Cal State Fullerton (12-2-4, 5-0-3)
WHEN: Thursday, Nov. 7th, 2019, 7:30 p.m. PT
WHERE: Titan Stadium
TELEVISION: None
VIDEO STREAMING: Bigwest.tv
LIVE STATS: www.hawaiiathletics.com
TICKETS: $12 adults, $8 senior/youth, free to any Big West student with a student ID
• The last time UH competed in a conference tournament match was in 2011 as a member of the Western Athletic Conference as the No. 3 seed, falling to No. 6 New Mexico State, 2-1.
• The 2011 campaign was the last season UH competed in a conference tournament, as well as being the first season under head coach Michele Nagamine.
• UH last won a conference tournament match in 2007 while they were a member of the WAC. The Rainbow Wahine beat Utah State 1-0 in double overtime, advancing to the championship where they defeated Fresno State 1-0 for the program's last conference championship.
• The 'Bows are 4-8-1 all-time in conference tournament matches. The only time UH had a conference game decided by penalty kicks was in a 1-1 tie with Tulsa in 2004, UH lost in pk's 4-3.
• Going into the final weekend of the regular season, UH was in a four-team race to host the conference tournament with Cal State Fullerton, UC Santa Barbara, and CSUN. Ultimately it went to CSF, but if UH would have been able to pull it off, it would have been the first time UH hosted a soccer conference tournament since 2004.
• In terms of lopsided victories in tournament play, UH holds the historical advantage, beating Boise State 7-1 in the quarterfinals of the WAC tournament in 2001.
• Earlier this season, the 'Bows and the Titans played to a 1-1 tie at Fullerton. Haley Brown scored the only goal for CSF in the 38th minute. UH answered with a goal by Kayla Ryan in the opening minute of the second half. Goalkeeper Alexis Mata recorded seven saves in the tie.
• The all-time series between the two programs heavily favors the Titans with a 12-2-1 advantage. It has been over a decade since UH last knocked off CSF, and that was in 2008 with 3-2 advantage at Fullerton.
PAYBACK SOUNDS FUN
At the end of the 2018 season, UH had its first real opportunity to make the Big West Conference Tournament entering the last game of the season at 4-3 in conference play and hosting Cal State Fullerton. UH needed a win or a tie to claim the No. 4 seed, as the Titans were already out of the running for a tournament spot. The Titans squashed the 'Bows' aspirations in a 2-1 victory, ending the 'Bows' season.
SECOND HALF TEAM
The offense has not been the 'Bows calling card in 2019, totaling 19 goals through 17 matches. But UH has proven to be a second-half team in more ways than one. The first being in the first half of the season, UH only totaled five goals against nonconference opponents, while netting 14 goals in the second half of the season against Big West teams. In terms of offense, 15 of the 19 goals scored this season have come in the second half of their matches.
HIT 'EM WITH SOME SPECIAL K
In total, there are eight student-athletes to register goals for UH this season, and four of the eight have one anomaly in common, they have the letter "K" in their name. Kayla Watanabe, Kayla Ryan, Kelci Sumida, and McKenzie Moore have accounted for 15 of the 19 goals. Even more astonishing is 14 of the 19 goals scored have come from players with "K" being the first letter of their first name.
