Hawaii soccer: Sumida gets Rainbow Wahine on the board

It had been a frustrating afternoon all the way around for Hawaii and Nevada for two full halves of scoreless play.

Some opportunities and close saves at both ends teased a positive outcome, only to have it revoked repeatedly like Charlie Brown lining up for a kick.

True freshman Kelci Sumida helped leave most of the frustration on the Wolf Pack’s side with her header goal on a cross from Daelenn Tokunaga in the 96th minute at the UH Lower Campus grass field on Thursday.

In an instant, the Moanalua alumna had the first goal of her career, which doubled as an instant overtime game-winner — good for the first victory of the season for the Rainbow Wahine (1-2).

“We had a lot of chances and could’ve put some of those goals away earlier, but I think that just coming together at the end and putting the last ball away, and getting the win was really good,” Sumida said with a laugh.

Do you love game winners? We do! #GoBows pic.twitter.com/GuYG3PK20h

— Hawaii Soccer (@HawaiiWSoccer) August 30, 2019

Kelci Sumida on her game-winner and adjusting to college play with #HawaiiWSOC. pic.twitter.com/t4LHVDjIyQ

— Hawaii Warrior World (@hawaiiwworld) August 30, 2019

UH coach Michele Nagamine was dour in victory; she would’ve liked to have seen her team put away the Wolf Pack (1-2) sooner. The shot count stood 18-8 in UH’s favor. In particular, she rued the lack of connection on crossed balls lingering a few feet in front of the Pack net.

“We were creating opportunities, but we just couldn’t pull the trigger. It was just so frustrating,” she said.

A whopping 23 players saw action Thursday, clearly leaving many roles spanning the pitch an open question mark entering Saturday’s 3:30 p.m. game against Sacramento State that ends UH’s season-opening four-game homestand.

“We went very, very deep into our bench today. It’s something we’re going to address after the game,” Nagamine said. “Not having accountability, stepping up and sticking to our roles and responsibilities, I’m disappointed that we took so long to get going. I mean, I know it’s only our third game, but we’re better than this. I think myself, I got a little bit flustered, and I have to be better at those situations as well. I think the team could sense how tense I was.

“People always ask, ‘what can I do to get more minutes?’ And the answer is, ‘your job.’ When you’re doing your job, good things are going to happen.”

Junior center back Cristina Drossos felt a sense of relief when she saw the ball touch the net. UH lost in overtime, 3-2, to San Francisco on Monday.

“Last game, it was disappointing to see how that game ended because we also knew what we could’ve accomplished,” said Drossos, who was one of three UH players (Elena Palacios, Lex Mata) to play the whole way. “So it was more of how we responded to that. When we got in this situation here, we knew what to do, and it was to score even though it wasn’t pretty. We still won.

Drossos said the team was not bothered by the near-constant lineup shuffling.

“We have a team culture where I know anyone who walks onto the field, they’re going to do the best job that they can. I know they’re going to put their body on the line for the team,” Drossos said. “It’s never an ‘I’ situation, it’s always a ‘we’ situation. … It’s not that big a deal to have different mixtures.”

Apparently not, as Tokunaga entered the game for the first time in overtime and made good on the chance with her entered ball into the box to the 5-5 Sumida, who snuck behind a defender and leaned into the ball noggin-first.

By the minutes metric Nagamine described, Sumida, who has started the last two games, has done her job well so far. She played 57 Thursday.

“I think Kelci has a number of things that make her very dangerous. She’s got good technical ability, she’s got good pace,” Nagamine said. “So the combination of her skill-set makes her very hard to defend. She’s good in small spaces, but if you leave her open in the open field, she’s going to burn you with a run. She’s a handful. So I think she did her job over the summer, came in fit, passed her fitness test and she’s earned every minute that she’s getting.”

Sumida said she’s coming along to the speed and physicality of the college game.

“I think it was kind of overwhelming at first, especially coming into a roster of 30 girls,” Sumida said. “But I think the coaches and players were really welcoming and helped everyone to understand their roles and responsibilities.”

Nevada, which features five local players on its roster, had goalkeeper Kendal Stovall, a Kamehameha alumna from Mililani, to thank for staying in the game. The sophomore recorded a career-high 12 saves, including this close call by Izzy Deutsch in the second half.

Nevada keeper and Kamehameha grad Kendal Stovall is on it to keep battle with #HawaiiWSOC scoreless early second half. pic.twitter.com/mWRyBOjWW4

— Hawaii Warrior World (@hawaiiwworld) August 30, 2019

“I knew she was good and it was going to be really hard to get a goal against her, but I’m just glad we were able to pull through and get a win,” said Sumida, who’d encountered Stovall in high school and club ball.

Mata had six saves for UH.

Nevada coach Erin Otagaki, a Hawaii native, was unavailable for comment afterward.

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UH 1, Nevada 0, OT, F

Live updates here

Tokunaga, who’d just entered the game minutes prior, enters the ball from the right side and freshman Kelci Sumida redirects it from close range for the game-winner against Nevada in the 96th minute. First career goal for the Moanalua alumna.

GAME as freshman Kelci Sumida scores in overtime from an entry ball by sophomore Daelenn Tokunaga.#HawaiiWSOC (1-2) beats Nevada 1-0 in the 96th minute. pic.twitter.com/TIJqSJnCwS

— Hawaii Warrior World (@hawaiiwworld) August 30, 2019

Forward Daelenn Tokunaga getting her first action of the game here in OT.

No real near chances in the final 10 minutes. UH goes into overtime for the second straight match. Shot count is 15-7 in UH’s favor. Ten saves for Kendal Stovall and five for Lex Mata.

Ten minutes to play in regulation. You get the feeling something is going to happen here soon.

Under 20 minutes to play in regulation. Wind has really picked up on the Lower Campus field.

Taylor Mason with a nice run up the right-hand side and great entry ball for Madison Moore, but her flick is off to the right. UH up to 15 shot attempts and naught to show, though.

Sumida centers it well from the goal line and it’s a dangerous situation for Nevada. But Stovall with her 10th save to clean up Madison Moore’s attempt from point-blank range.

UH keeping pressure on early in the second half, but Kamehameha grad Kendal Stovall (NINE saves now) is really on her game.

The shot count was 9-6 in favor for UH in the first half.

HALFTIME

Lex Mata makes an OUTSTANDING save to keep it scoreless going into the half, as Nevada’s Lesly Gonzalez cranks one off a UH misclear in the final seconds.

Whoa. Deutsch has a free kick from about 40 yards out nearly squeak in under the crossbar, but Stovall does a good job of punching it over at the last second. Only a couple minutes left in the half.

Kayla Ryan checks in for Rentner and cranks a shot from about 25 yards out that carries just beyond the far post.

Watanabe has a flicked redirect on frame in the 29th but Stovall is there. That’s been the most compelling battle so far.

Watanabe has a close-range shot saved by the Reno goalkeeper Kendal Stovall (a Kamehameha graduate) with a sliding tackle. That was close. UH definitely getting looks today.

Kayla Watanabe has a shot sail high from just inside the box in the 13th.

Kelci Sumida has a cross hit off the far post in the 10th minute.

UH with a couple of early opportunities entering the ball into the box.

Senior Kiri Dale into the starting lineup for the first time this season. Looks like midfielder Michaela Rentner, who had a goal against San Francisco on Monday, was moved up to the midfield to left forward. Izzy Deutsch with a start in the midfield.

UH underway against Nevada of the Mountain West looking for its first win of the season (0-2). The Wolf Pack (1-1) feature a local head coach in Erin Otagaki and five Hawaii high school graduates.