Rainbow Wahine soccer falls to Western Michigan 3-1

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – After playing through hurricane-like conditions last weekend, the University of Hawaiʻi women’s soccer team was met by sunshine as they faced Western Michigan.

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The match also marked the broadcast return of University of Hawaiʻi sports to K5.

The Broncos — the reigning Mid-American Conference champions — took control early, jumping out to a 3-0 lead by halftime.

“I think we’ve been a little conservative as I think I missed the mark a bit on the defensive end with clearing,” UH head coach Michele Nagamine said. “We only have five defenders right now, so it’s been a little hard to put that kind of pressure on the backline.”

After the sluggish first half, the Rainbow Wahine found another gear, with freshman forward Olivia Dianda netting her first career collegiate goal.

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“It felt really relieving to be able to take off the pressure of being completely down by three, so to get our team back in the game,” Dianda said.

Defensively, UH was able to keep the Broncos scoreless in the second half, holding the final score to 3-1.

“If we can just win the second half, let’s show that we can make adjustments. We can not put our heads down. We can keep fighting,” Nagamine said. “I like where we’re at against the really good quality opponents that we’ve played.”

The ‘Bows wrap up the weekend hosting Idaho on Saturday. Coverage on KFVE begins at 1:30 p.m. Hawaiʻi time.

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