Soccer picked sixth

According to the rest of the Big West, the Hawaii women’s soccer team still projects to miss the vaunted conference tournament.

The Rainbow Wahine were picked to finish in a tie for sixth along with UC Santa Barbara in the Big West preseason poll released on Wednesday. Only the top four advance to the league tourney, with the winner advancing automatically to the NCAA tournament. UH, which still seeks its first Big West tourney appearance, finished eighth at 2-5-1 last season.

Cal Poly, featuring veteran strikers in Elise Krieghoff and Megan Abutin, was picked to win the league. Defending Big West tourney champion Cal State Fullerton was picked third, behind Long Beach State. UC Irvine was tabbed as the last team expected to make the cut.

While UH’s projection might come off as a disappointment for a program seeking to break new ground with a tourney appearance, junior midfielder Storm Kenui was named to the all-conference preseason team. (The Big West only designates one 11-player preseason squad.)

Kenui was UH’s all-around best player last year, scoring a team-high six goals with two assists while anchoring things at center pitch. She even filled in ably at defender at times in 2014. All of that factored into her NSCAA third-team all-region selection as a sophomore.

There are other Wahine players who could vie for all-conference honors before season’s end. Tiana Fujimoto was a postseason first-teamer two years ago before her foot injury, and Sonest Furtado, Kama Pascua and Monk Berger have garnered some secondary awards in the past.

Pick, School, points (first-place votes in parentheses)
1. Cal Poly (3) — 72
2. Long Beach State (1) — 70
3. Cal State Fullerton (3) — 68
4. UC Irvine (1) — 50
5. CSUN (1) — 37
6. UC Santa Barbara, Hawaii — 28
8. UC Riverside — 27
9. UC Davis — 25