HONOLULU – The Hawai'i soccer team will look to continue the momentum it has built early on in Mountain West play when it hosts UTEP Sunday at 3 p.m.
The Rainbow Wahine and Miners are tied in the league standings with six points apiece and a 2-1 record as the two teams look to pick up key points early on in the conference season. The 'Bows are 3-3 all-time vs. UTEP and will be meeting their former WAC rival for the first time since 2004. UH owns a 3-0 record at home vs. the Miners, owning an 11-2 scoring advantage in those matches.
HEAD COACH MICHELE NAGAMINE
At Hawai'i: 95-127-34 (15th season)
Collegiate Record: 119-157-35 (18th year)
SERIES VS. UTEP
Tied, 3-3
Last Meeting: Oct. 10, 2004 in El Paso (UTEP won, 2-1)
ON THE PITCH
DID YOU KNOW?
Nine of
Nalani Damacion's 12 career goals have been game-winners. Damacion is currently tied for second in UH history in career game-winners, trailing only Natasha Kai's astounding program record of 23.
TAMING THE PACK
The Rainbow Wahine are coming off of a dominant 3-0 win over Nevada in their Mountain West home opener on Wednesday. UH out-shot the Wolf Pack 23-4 while owning a 16-1 advantage in corner kicks to earn the program's first-ever Mountain West home victory. Defenders
Piper BertaniI and
Laule'a Ah Mook Sang each found the back of the net while freshman
Olivia Dianda scored her third goal of the season. Bertani scored for the first time in her career, heading home a corner kick in the final minute of the first half to put Hawai'i in front for good. Dianda and Ah Mook Sang helped put away the win with second-half strikes while keeper
Kennedy Justin and the UH back line put together the team's sixth shutout of the year.
MANOA NO GOAL PATROL
Hawai'i has not given up a goal in each of its last five matches at home, keeping opponents off the board since the first half of an Aug. 20 loss to Western Michigan. The streak of 497 consecutive shutout minutes in matches on the Manoa Lower Campus has led UH to a five-match home unbeaten streak that includes four wins. It also marks the Rainbow Wahine's longest home shutout streak since 2016 when they put together six consecutive clean sheets. The Hawai'i back line has also held opponents under 10 shots in each of the last four home matches, allowing just four shot attempts per match during this stretch.
SECOND HALF SURGES
The Rainbow Wahine have been dominant in the second half of matches, owning a 14-2 scoring advantage in the final 45 minutes. Additionally, eight of the 14 second-half goals have come in the final 15 minutes of matches. UH has shut out its opponent in the second half in nine of the 10 matches, giving up just two goals in a loss to Kansas State on Aug. 15. On the other hand, the 'Bows are being out-scored 7-5 in the first half of matches.
ON THE ATTACK
UH has put on display one of the program's more potent offensive attacks in recent years. The team's 19 goals scored already matches last year's season total through 10 matches, and is just seven shy of the 2024 Big West title winning team's total of 26 scores on the season. All five of the Rainbow Wahine's wins have come by multiple goals, more than the previous two seasons combined in which UH won just three matches by more than one goal. Additionally, Hawai'i is averaging 1.90 goals per match, on pace for the team's highest total since 2007 (2.68).
» Won 7-0 vs. HPU on Aug. 29, scoring the third-most goals in a match in school history.
» Earned 16 corner kick opportunities Wednesday vs. Nevada, two shy of the program record of 18.
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