Waipahu— The University of Hawai'i soccer team welcomed back fans for the first time in nearly two years but ultimately came up short to UC Irvine 4-1, Thursday night at the Waipi'o Peninsula Soccer Complex.
 
The Rainbow Wahine (0-9-3, 0-5-2) played in front of a crowd of 427, with limited seating, marking the program's first home soccer match with spectators since October 27th of 2019. The Anteaters (9-4, 4-1) are currently riding a four-match win streak, with their only conference loss coming to UC San Diego on September 26th.
 
The night's lone goal for the Rainbow Wahine was a spark from a local product in freshman forward Nicole Ando. The Mililani high school grad picked up her first career goal, off a nifty assist from sophomore midfielder Eliza Ammendolia in the 69th minute. Ando joins fellow freshman forwards Trini Quiroz and Krista Peterson and senior midfielder Maki Kono to pick up their first career goals with UH in 2021.
 
The night's first goal went by way of a penalty kick, similar to the goal surrendered at UC Riverside on October 7th. Scarlett Camberos beat sophomore goalkeeper Lauren Marquez with a fake to the right, scoring on her left-hand side to make it 1-0 at the 19th-minute mark.
 
The two squads battled to the half with the score remaining at 1-0, but UCI struck quickly to put UH in a deeper hole. In the 46th minute, the Anteaters scored on a blocked shot that was rebounded by Desiree Mendoza and sent into the net with a quick slap shot by a diving Marquez. UCI added another on their second penalty kick of the evening, with Camberos notching her second goal in the 51st minute.
 
The night of scoring for UCI concluded as Camberos picked up the hat trick with her third score, this one coming off an assist from Jenae Perez in the 68th minute.
 
UH will have a week hiatus before its next match scheduled for October 21st at UC Davis.