HONOLULU – The Hawai'i women's soccer team continued its stellar run of form on Sunday afternoon, earning a gritty 2-1 victory over UTEP at the UH Lower Campus Field.
The hard-fought triumph marked the Rainbow Wahine's third consecutive victory and extended the program's home unbeaten streak to six matches dating back to Aug. 22. UH improved to 6-4-1 overall and 3-1 in Mountain West play, giving the 'Bows nine points to put them in a tie for second place in the conference.
Hawai'i controlled the tempo early and broke through late in the opening half at the 39:43 mark. Senior
Tatum Porter opened the scoring by finishing a crisp delivery from freshman midfielder
Jas Cayetano, netting her fourth goal of the season to give the Bows a 1-0 advantage heading into the intermission.
Prior to the breakthrough strike, Hawai'i kept the Miners on their heels, generating five first-half shot attempts and four corner kicks while limiting UTEP to three attempts.
The Rainbow Wahine came out firing in the second half, doubling their lead less than three minutes after the restart. At the 47:38 mark, senior forward
Anuhea Aluli connected on a clinical build-up orchestrated by
Jordyn Eldredge Sagapolutele and
Nalani Damacion, driving home her team-leading seventh goal of the campaign to put Hawai'i ahead 2-0.
The Bows kept the pressure on throughout the frame, testing the Miners' defense with dangerous second-half strikes from
Montana Longcrier,
Izzy Ayala, and
Olivia Dianda.
UTEP cut the UH lead in half in the 81st minute when Anai Lopez capitalized on an unassisted opportunity at the 80:42 mark. However, the Hawai'i backline and junior goalkeeper
Kennedy Justin held firm under late pressure. Justin finished with three saves over 90 minutes of action—including punching away a quality shot attempt on a long-distance free kick from UTEP keeper Savannah Finley in the 85
th minute – to keep UH in front.
Hawai'i outshot the Miners 16-7 overall (5-4 on goal), earned an 8-4 advantage in corner kicks, and controlled 55 percent of the total possession. Aluli's goal turned out to be the game-winner, giving her a conference-leading four on the season. Porter finished the week with a team-high three points after providing an assist in Wednesday's win over Nevada.
The Rainbow Wahine now hit the road for a two-match California road trip, opening with a Mountain West matchup at San José State on Thursday at 4 p.m. HT.
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