Posted on: Saturday, October 20, 2001
Wahine soccer team beats UTEP, 5-1
By Kyle Sakamoto
Advertiser Staff Writer
Hawai'i's Arlene Devitt proved last night it's not whether you get knocked down, it's whether you can get back up.
Devitt, injured early in the first half, came back to score two goals and had two assists as Hawai'i routed Texas-El Paso, 5-1, in a Western Athletic Conference soccer match before a crowd of 1,563 at Waipi'o Peninsula Soccer Stadium.
Hawai'i improved to 5-7 overall and 2-1 in the WAC. UTEP dropped to 3-8-2 and 1-3-1.
Devitt's two goals tied a single-match school record and her six points set a school mark.
"My concern is not goals, it's winning," said Devitt, a sophomore forward. "I like to win. I feel good that we won."
The Miners took the lead at 22:12 on a goal by Holly Cohen off an assist by Marge Gomez.
Devitt was taken down at the 23:45 mark after fighting for the ball and landing on her left elbow. She re-entered the match two minutes later, and went to work on UTEP's defense.
"I hit my arm, it was bleeding, but I shook it off," said Devitt.
She scored the game-tying goal at 29:42 off an assist by Veronica Flores.
Devitt received the pass in the box and faked out defender Lindsay Raby with a sharp cutback to the left. She put her shot past goal keeper Katie Gilmore.
"She's just a spectacular player," Hawai'i coach Pinsoom Tenzing said. "She gets a lot of attention, and sometimes she doesn't deal with it, but today she was spectacular in every sense."
Devitt assisted on the go-ahead goal with a nifty pass to a wide-open Tiffany Makue, whose left-footed shot sailed past Gilmore at 33:09.
"I wasn't really sure if it was going to go in, and when I saw it go in I was really happy because we really needed this win," Makue said. "I want to go all the way and hopefully win the WAC tournament. "
In the second half, the Wahine scored three goals in a span of five minutes. Devitt scored off a long pass from Joelle Sugai (81:40), Jennifer Starsiak scored off an assist from Devitt (83:58) and Liz Lusk scored off a corner kick by Starsiak (86:46).
According to Tenzing, the Wahine finally broke through after missing numerous opportunities during a streak in which they lost seven of their previous eight matches.
"I think all the (non) goals I've been talking about went in today," Tenzing said. "They've been creating these kinds of chances and today they put it away.
"We played good soccer. We pushed the ball around, from end to end, from side to side, and we created chances."
UTEP coach Kevin Cross declined comment after the match.
The Wahine will play WAC front-runner Southern Methodist (9-3, 4-0) tomorrow at 5:07 p.m. A "Tribute to Heroes" pregame ceremony will start at 4 p.m.
