The Hawai'i soccer team will open up its defense of the Big West regular season title when it begins conference play at Long Beach State Thursday at 4 p.m. HT.
 
The Rainbow Wahine head into league play with a record of 2-4-3, a similar position to last year when they went 3-6 in nonconference action. UH trails the all-time series against the Beach, 11-3-4, with the two teams meeting in the season opener when Long Beach came out on top, 2-1, following a late goal.
 

HAWAI'I (2-4-3, 0-0-0 Big West) at LONG BEACH STATE (3-4-1, 0-0-0 Big West) // SAN DIEGO STATE (3-2-1, 0-0-0 MW)
Date / Time				Thursday, Sept. 18 at Long Beach State -- 4 p.m. HT Sunday, Sept. 21 at San Diego State -- 9 a.m. HT
Location				Long Beach, Calif. | San Diego, Calif.
Live Stream				Thursday | Sunday
Live Stats				Thursday | Sunday
PDF Notes				Hawai'i | Long Beach State | San Diego State
Social Media				@HawaiiWSoccer  | #HawaiiWSoccer | @HawaiiWSoccer

 
HEAD COACH MICHELE NAGAMINE
At Hawai'i: 88-119-28 (14th season)
Collegiate Record: 112-149-29 (17th year)

SERIES VS. LONG BEACH STATE
Overall: LBSU leads, 11-3-4
Last meeting: Aug. 14, 2025 (LBSU won, 2-1)
Streak: L1

SERIES VS. SAN DIEGO STATE
Overall: SDSU leads, 6-0
Last meeting: Sept. 6, 2011 (SDSU won, 3-0)
Streak: L6
 
ON THE PITCH  
DID YOU KNOW?
Senior Amber Gilbert leads the team with 14 career goals scored. She is just one goal away from cracking the UH career top 10 and is also just five points away from moving into program UH top 10 list, currently at 31 career points.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Rainbow Wahine closed out nonconference play by playing Eastern Washington to a 1-1 draw last Thursday at Waipi'o Soccer Stadium. After a scoreless first half, Amber Gilbert delivered the game's first goal with a strike three minutes into the second half. The senior weaved through the defense from near midfield and scored from the top of the box, giving her two goals on the year and a team-best 14 for her career. EWU equalized a minute later, but the UH defense held from there on out, fending off six shot attempts to preserve the tie.
 
BRAND NEW SEASON
Hawai'i will look to defend its Big West regular season title from a year ago when it opens conference play against Long Beach State. The Rainbow Wahine went 2-4-3 in nonconference play, picking up a pair of shutout victories against Central Arkansas (Aug. 21) and Sacramento State (Sept. 4). UH enters its conference season in a similar position to where it was following nonconference action last year when the 'Bows were 3-6 as they started Big West play. From there, UH went on to go unbeaten through the first seven matches against conference opponents on the way to the program's first-ever Big West regular season crown.
 
TATUM TURNING IT UP
Junior forward Tatum Porter has been one of UH's go-to options offensively in recent weeks, and currently leads the team with seven points. Porter has scored two goals and recorded three assists - all of which came in a recent three-match span from Aug. 28-Sept. 4. She scored a goal and dished out an assist vs. Northern Arizona on Aug. 28 before adding a helper the following match vs. California Baptist. Porter then assisted on UH's first goal before scoring the second in a 2-0 win at Sacramento State on Sept. 4.
 
» First UH player since Oct. 2017 (Raisa Strom-Okimoto) to record at least seven points in a three-match stretch.
» Has either scored or assisted on five of the team's last six goals.
 
MIX & MATCH
Throughout the first eight matches, head coach Michele Nagamine has shuffled the lineup giving numerous players valuable experience. A total of 19 different players have started at least one match this season while 25 of the 26 active players have seen action. UH has used a different starting 11 in each of the first eight matches while only two players (Izzy Ayala and Cate Sheahan) have started all eight matches.
 
» No goalkeeper has played an entire match yet, with the three keepers playing one half at a time in the net.
» Brianna Chirpich is the only keeper to play in every match while Kennedy Justin leads the group with five starts in the net.
 
SECOND HALF SURGES
The Rainbow Wahine have put together some of their best play in the second half of matches throughout nonconference play. UH has allowed just five of its 17 goals given up on the season in the second half, outscoring teams 7-5 after halftime. Hawai'i has pitched four second-half shutouts this season - with all of those instances either resulting in ties or wins. Additionally, UH has come back to secure two ties this season despite trailing by multiple goals going into the break.
 
» Trailed 2-0 at Pepperdine on Aug. 17 but came back to tie with a pair of second-half scores.
» Fell behind 2-0 vs. California Baptist on Aug. 31 and scored twice in the final 25 minutes to tie.
» The Pepperdine draw marked the first time since 2012 that the Rainbow Wahine erased a multi-goal deficit to either tie or win a match.