HONOLULU – The Hawai'i soccer team battled toe-to-toe with No. 23 Texas Tech before ultimately falling 1-0 on Thursday at the newly completed UH Lower Campus Field.
Playing on campus, and against a ranked opponent for the first time since 2019, the Rainbow Wahine outshot their nationally-ranked opponents but were undone by a late first-half strike in the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
Texas Tech (1-0-0) broke the deadlock at the 42:11 mark of the opening half when Storie Sexton found the back of the net. Up to that point, the UH back line held their ground backed by stellar play from junior goalkeeper
Kennedy Justin. Justin finished the match with three saves, while the Hawai'i defense added a critical team save in the 28th minute on a shot by Taylor Zdrojewski to keep the deficit at one.
Despite falling behind at the half the Rainbow Wahine (0-1-0) didn't back down, out-shooting the Red Raiders 4-2 in the second frame and finished the night with a 9-7 overall advantage in shots, along with a 6-3 edge in corner kicks. Senior transfer and Preseason Player to Watch
Anuhea Aluli paced the Hawai'i attack with three shots, testing Tech keeper Addie Todd with a dangerous strike in the 27th minute.
Hawai'i continued to knock on the door late into the match. In the 67th minute, sophomore forward
Montana Longcrier forced a save from Todd off a corner kick. Senior
Tatum Porter nearly leveled the score in the 83rd minute, but her shot on target was turned away by Todd to preserve the clean sheet for the Red Raiders.
The Rainbow Wahine will look to bounce back quickly as they continue the OUTRIGGER Soccer Kickoff against another Big 12 opponent in Kansas State this Sunday at 4:00 p.m.
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