• UH soccer Cruises Past Portland State UH soccer Cruises Past Portland State WAIPAHU — Hawai‘i scored three first-half goals, including two in an 88-second span, to defeat Portland State, 3-1, in a non-conference match Sunday night at Waipio Peninsula
• UH soccer Cruises Past Portland State
UH soccer Cruises Past Portland State
WAIPAHU — Hawai‘i scored three first-half goals, including two in an 88-second span, to defeat Portland State, 3-1, in a non-conference match Sunday night at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium. UH improved to 5-2-1 with its second straight home win.
It was a milestone night for all three Rainbow Wahine scorers. Koren Takeyama and Kelly McCloskey each notched their first career goal, while Natasha Kai scored the 50th goal in her electrifying career. The Rainbow Wahine got on the board first at the 14:14 mark when Gabrielle Bohlman hit a streaking Takeyama in the box. Takeyama separated from a Viking defender then sent a right-footed laser in the upper right corner of the goal for a 1-0 UH lead. Kai would strike just a little over a minute later, taking a through pass from Robyn deHay and beating Viking goalie Niki Brooks in a one-on-one match-up for her team-leading fifth goal of the season. McCloskey pushed UH’s lead to 3-0 just before the half with a beautiful header off a Jessica Uecker free kick from nearly 50 yards out. The sophomore midfielder located the ball on the left side of the box, and bounced into the far post to give UH a commanding lead at half.
Portland State (1-4-1) out-shot the Rainbow Wahine 16-13, although many of those shots came in the final 15 minutes with the UH starters already entrenched on the bench. Jamie Blakesky capitalized on an opportunity in the 87th minute with a header in the dead center of the goal for the Vikings only one goal of the match.
The Rainbow Wahine next head for the road where they will play three straight matches. The road trip starts with a meeting versus New Mexico at 3 p.m. MST on Friday, Sept. 24 in the Montana Fall Classic in Missoula, Mont.
