HONOLULU – The Hawai'i soccer team returns home for its Big West home opener against UC Santa Barbara Sunday at 4 p.m. at Waipi'o Soccer Stadium. The matchup features both the Big West regular season and tournament champions from a year ago, with UH looking to defend its regular season crown and the Gauchos their postseason tournament title.
The Rainbow Wahine won last year's meeting between the schools in Santa Barbara, 2-1, to clinch the conference regular season title. UCSB leads the all-time series between the schools, 8-7-2, but the 'Bows have won the last two meetings and own a four-match unbeaten streak in the series.
HEAD COACH MICHELE NAGAMINE
At Hawai'i: 88-119-30 (14th season)
Collegiate Record: 112-149-31 (17th year)
SERIES VS. UC SANTA BARBARA
Overall: UCSB leads, 8-7-2
Last meeting: Oct. 27, 2024 (UH won, 21-1)
Streak: W2
ON THE PITCH
DID YOU KNOW?
The Rainbow Wahine played to back-to-back 0-0 draws on their most recent road trip to Long Beach State and San Diego State. It's the first time in program history that UH has played to consecutive 0-0 ties and the first time since 2021 that UH has had multiple scoreless draws in the same season.
CLEAN SHEET ROAD TRIP
The Rainbow Wahine return home after playing to a pair of 0-0 draws on their most recent road trip to Southern California. UH opened Big West play by securing a point at Long Beach State last Thursday with a 0-0 tie despite being out-shot 10-4. The 'Bows also did not have a shot on goal in that match, marking the first time since Aug. 27, 2021 vs. North Texas that UH did not have a shot on goal. The 'Bows then closed out the road trip by playing to a 0-0 draw at San Diego State in a nonconference match, with
Brianna Chirpich and
Kennedy Justin combining on the shutout in goal.
LOCKING DOWN
The Hawai'i defense has done a good job of minimizing goal-scoring opportunities in recent weeks, posting back-to-back shutouts while allowing just one goal in the last three matches. After giving up multiple goals in five of the first six matches, UH has held its opponents to one or fewer goals four of the last five times out, including three shutouts. Goalkeeper
Brianna Chirpich posted the first solo shutout of the season by a UH keeper in a Sept. 18 win over Long Beach State, matching a career-high with six saves. Chirpich and
Kennedy Justin then combined on a shutout at San Diego State on Sept. 21, with SDSU totaling just nine shots.
A STEADY PRESENCE
Midfielder
Izzy Ayala has been a constant presence on the pitch for the Rainbow Wahine all season, leading the team with 924 minutes played. The junior has played all 90 minutes in each of the last four matches, and has been on the field for the entire match six times this year. Ayala has played at least 70 minutes in all 11 matches and is one of just two players on the team to start every game.
» Heads into Sunday's match having played 372 consecutive minutes dating back to the Sept. 4 match at Sacramento State.
» Also has matched a single-season career-high with four points, scoring a goal while recording two assists.
» Scored third career goal in a draw vs. California Baptist on Aug. 31, putting UH on the board in the second half.
» Recorded assists in road matches at Long Beach State (Aug. 14) and Sacramento State (Sept. 4).
AMBERGHINI HITTING THE GAS
Senior forward
Amber Gilbert has gotten off to a solid start in her final collegiate season. The sixth-year senior is second on the team with five points (2 goals, 1 assist), and leads the team with 14 career goals and 31 career points. Gilbert is just one goal away from cracking the UH career top 10 in goals scored and just five points away from moving into the program top 10 in that category. The Mililani native is also the most experienced player on the Hawai'i roster with 61 career matches played and 57 starts.
BRAND NEW DIGS
After going without a permanent on-campus practice facility since October 2023, the Hawai'i soccer team held its first training session on the brand new practice surface Tuesday ahead of the matchup with the UC Santa Barbara. The Rainbow Wahine will now use the hybrid soccer/track & field facility located on the site of the former Cooke Field for most of their training sessions for the remainder of the 2025 season. Future plans are in place to install fan-seating areas, a scoreboard and lights with the hopes of UH soccer one day being able to host matches on campus. For the second half of the 2023 season, all of 2024 and the entire season up to this point, UH has been using numerous sites off campus and other facilities on campus to train.
