SAN JOSE – The Hawai'i women's soccer team kept its dominant momentum rolling on Thursday night, delivering a pair of late second-half goals to shut out San José State 2-0 at the Spartan Soccer Complex.
The win marked the Rainbow Wahine's fourth consecutive victory and moved UH into sole possession of second place in the Mountain West standings halfway through the conference season. Behind another stellar defensive effort and a clinical second-half attack, Hawai'i registered its seventh shutout of the season and improved to 7-4-1 overall and 4-1-0 in league play with 12 points.
The opening 45 minutes was a defensive battle as both sides searched for rhythm in front of 382 fans. The Rainbow Wahine generated quality looks early, testing Spartans goalkeeper Paige Fry with on-target strikes from senior forward
Anuhea Aluli and freshman midfielder
Nalani Damacion inside the first 15 minutes.
Hawai'i's breakthrough finally arrived at the 77:40 mark when Damacion served it up from just inside the touch line to senior midfielder
Izzy Ayala in front of the net, who slotted her first goal of the season past Fry to give the 'Bows a 1-0 advantage.
Just over six minutes later, the Rainbow Wahine delivered the knockout blow to put the contest out of reach. In the 84th minute, Aluli attempted a shot off a corner kick that was turned away by Fry, but junior defender
Laule'a Ah Mook Sang pounced on the rebound and buried an unassisted strike at the 83:58 mark for her second goal of the year.
Hawai'i out-shot the Spartans 11-1 in the second halfwhile earning nine corner kicks after the break. That relentless pressure continued a season-long trend for the Bows, who are now out-scoring opponents 17-3 in the second half of matches. UH has also scored multiple goals in four consecutive matches, marking the first time the 'Bows have done so since 2018.
Goalkeeper
Kennedy Justin and the Hawai'i backline closed out the clean sheet without surrendering a single shot on goal in the final 45 minutes. Senior midfielder Ayala, defender
Piper Bertani, and defender
Alohi Ramos joined Damacion and Justin in playing all 90 minutes, while Ah Mook Sang anchored the backline for 86 minutes to seal the shutout.
The shutout is Justin's sixth of the season and 13th of her career, moving her into second place alone on the UH career goalkeeper shutouts list. She also moved into sole possession of fifth place in Rainbow Wahine history with 21 wins in the net.
The Rainbow Wahine will look to continue their hot streak when they take on UC Davis on Sunday at 10:00 a.m. HT.
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