Hawaii soccer: Another Kayla (Watanabe) strikes as Wahine dispatch UC Irvine

Kayla Watanabe did not one, but two emphatic, leaping fist pumps after scoring the first goal of her Rainbow Wahine soccer career.

Two was fitting, as it turned out to represent one for each of her scores in Hawaii’s 3-0 win over UC Irvine on Thursday night at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium.

Watanabe’s two goals — one in each half, each assisted by freshman midfielder Eliza Ammendolia — staked the Rainbow Wahine (4-6-1, 2-0 Big West) to a 2-0 lead and Kayla Ryan tacked on a late one to give her three in the last two games.

Watanabe had nine goals in three seasons at Idaho before transferring home to UH in the offseason. Playing at center forward all season, she had some frustratingly close calls in nonconference play — opportunities she clearly wanted back.

She made those chances count on Thursday, one on a counterattack and one on a redirect at the back post, “lifting a weight off my shoulders,” the Mid-Pacific alumna said.

Senior forward Kayla Watanabe talks about her first two goals with #HawaiiWSOC and the team’s drive to be the first Wahine squad to make the @BigWestSports tournament after Thursday’s 3-0 win over UC Irvine. pic.twitter.com/wJG9nJexea

— Hawaii Warrior World (@hawaiiwworld) October 11, 2019

“I could just feel it. It’s kind of like the weather,” coach Michele Nagamine said. “You know, you can smell the rain, you can see the clouds, and you’re like, ‘it’s gonna rain. It’s gonna rain.’ And that was kind of the same thing with Kayla. Every week, she’s just doing things in training that, you can just tell, ‘whoa, I think it’s coming.’ Honestly, it took a little longer than I thought. But the bottom line is she’s peaking at the right time.”

UH is in a place it has never been in eight years of BWC membership: looking up at no one through two weeks of play and in the driver’s seat for a run at the four-team Big West tournament.

The Wahine are tied atop the Big West standings with Cal State Fullerton and UC Santa Barbara. A full five teams are tied in terms of points, as Irvine and Cal State Northridge have six points as well but an additional loss.

A tough nonconference schedule apparently helped the Wahine for this moment. In two Big West contests, UH equaled its goal output (five) of all of nine nonconference matches.

“Amazing. I think that’s the best word to describe. I’m just so incredibly proud of our team,” Nagamine said. “I was just talking to them about trusting the process. It’s so hard to do when you’re young and you’re still getting your bearings. We have a lot of freshmen and sophomores coming in and out of the lineup. I’m just really, really thrilled for the team that they get to see the fruits of their labor.”

Irvine coach Scott Juniper agreed UH’s tough schedule, which included two top-five opponents, helped prepare it for this moment; his Anteaters (3-10, 2-1) likewise played one of the toughest in the country (four ranked foes) and they came out strong in Big West play before faltering Thursday. They led in shots 10-1 at one point before finishing that tally 15-8.

“I think that goes one way or another,” Juniper said of the loaded scheduling philosophy. “Your team either folds, and they become hopeless, or, they say ‘let’s learn from each of these games. Let’s learn from these top teams we’re playing,’ and you saw two teams tonight that were full of spirit and it was a really good, competitive game. We’re going to feel like the score line doesn’t entirely reflect it, but I think it’s just the result of the tough nonconference schedules that we’ve played and that they’ve played, created two teams that were full of fight today. I hope the fans enjoyed what they saw, what they came to see.”

UH had lost all three of its previous home matches to Irvine as a Big West member.

The Wahine worked extensively on their counterattacks in the week since a 2-1 comeback win over Cal State Northridge, keyed by Ryan’s brace.

“Before the game, we were like, ‘(the counter) is going to be open all day.’ And it worked out perfectly fine,” Watanabe said.

UH came out playing on its heels and did not record its first shot until 20 minutes into the game, when Ammendolia launched a sky ball ahead to a streaking Watanabe. The graduate transfer from Idaho knocked it down with one foot and directed it straight ahead with her second touch. UCI goalkeeper Maddie Newsom deflected it, but not enough to save it, touching off Watanabe’s emphatic celebration.

Sweet ball in by Eliza Ammendolia to Kayla Watanabe for the first goal of the evening…and the first goal for Watanabe as a Rainbow Wahine.
@HawaiiWSOC 1 – 0 UCI#HawaiiWSOC pic.twitter.com/lcupP0XzSI

— Spectrum Sports HI (@specsportshi) October 11, 2019

“It’s Kayla. She does amazing things like that, but it’s no surprise,” Ammendolia said. “I was just thankful that she got the ball in the back of the net, to be honest, since being on the back foot the first 20 minutes, (we) didn’t have the best start, but once we stuck that first goal, everyone relaxed a little bit. A little bit of pressure was off our shoulders, which made us play our style of football a lot more.”

The second time, Ammendolia took control of a ball that lingered in the final third and fired a sharp liner into the box and Watanabe redirected it in from the back post in the 58th minute. Juniper yelled for an offsides call that never came. Watanabe said afterward she was sure she was on-side.

Ammendolia to Watanabe for the 2nd time tonight 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Rainbow Wahine up 2-0#HawaiiWSOC 🌈⚽️ #GoBows pic.twitter.com/z8xoUbxomi

— Spectrum Sports HI (@specsportshi) October 11, 2019

“So, since being very new (to the team), developing a connection with the front three was slightly more challenging because I’m a different player compared to them,” said Ammendolia, an Australian. “But I think Kayla tonight, understood the way I played. Therefore, as soon as I got the ball, she knew what I was looking at. She executed it perfectly and she made me look good, so I can’t complain.”

Watanabe had a chance at a hat trick on a field-long solo counterattack with 14 minutes left, but her grounded ball from 30 yards out was collected by Newsom.

But Ryan snuck a bouncer off the leg of a UCI defender and to to the far post in the 78th minute to complete the runaway win with her team-leading third goal of the season.

In the words of our color commentator, Jessica Domingo, "Oh. My. Goodness!"
Kayla Ryan w/the 3rd goal for @HawaiiWSOC…Rainbow Wahine up 3-0 over UCI#HawaiiWSOC 🌈⚽️ #GoBows pic.twitter.com/Y6V1sKjX6h

— Spectrum Sports HI (@specsportshi) October 11, 2019

Lex Mata’s fourth shutout of the season was her 12th career, tying her for second all-time among Wahine goalkeepers with Kori Lu (2005-08). Monk Berger has the program record of 16.

Now UH heads to the road for matchups at UC Riverside (0-2) on Thursday and Cal State Fullerton (2-0) on Sunday. The Wahine are a combined 0-6 at those fields as a Big West member.

“I think we’re really confident going on the road,” Watanabe said. “We’re going to take all this momentum, keep working hard, and hopefully we’ll be successful on the road.”