UH's Moe hopes to kick start offense

By Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writer

•	What: Outrigger Hotels & Resorts Soccer Classic Where: Waipi'o Peninsula Soccer Stadium When: Today, No. 5 UCLA (2-1-0) vs. San Francisco (2-0-1), 7 p.m.; Tomorrow, Hawai'i (1-2-1) vs. San Francisco, 7 p.m.; Sunday, Hawai'i vs. UCLA, 5 p.m. Television: Sunday, Hawai'i vs. UCLA on K-5

Moe, a former Punahou School standout, reshirted last year after transferring from Loyola Marymount because of family reasons. Sitting out proved difficult for Moe, who earned several honors in her two seasons at Loyola Marymount, including 1999 All-West Coast Conference honorable mention.

"It was hard to watch from the sidelines because I'm very competitive and I like the challenge and contact of soccer," said Moe, who is a junior. "Being out was kind of hard, but I like playing here. I love playing at home."

Moe will make her first home start tomorrow against San Francisco in the Outrigger Hotels & Resorts Soccer Classic at the Waipi'o Peninsula Soccer Stadium. The tournament starts today with No. 5 UCLA (2-1-0) playing against San Francisco (2-0-1), and concludes with Hawai'i (1-2-1) playing UCLA on Sunday. The Hawai'i-UCLA match will be televised on K5.

Moe started in her first two regular-season matches last week at Oregon State and UC Riverside. Hawai'i coach Pinsoom Tenzing said Moe has showed steady improvement since the start of the season.

"She's a fabulous player," Tenzing said. "She's been playing on the second team (in practice), but she shouldn't be playing on the second team. She is a bonafide first-string player. But she's not in stride as of yet, but she will be."

Teammate Jessica Uecker said Moe creates many scoring opportunities for teammates with her excellent lead passing.

"She has a lot of creativity in the midfield," said Uecker, who is Hawai'i's starting center defender. "She makes a lot of things happen offensively."

Moe said Hawai'i has been plagued by some slow starts and needs to bring more intensity to its matches to be competitive.

"We need to come in and be energized, and not take 10 minutes during the game to get warmed up," Moe said. "We need to start off strong and maintain that during the game."

Hawai'i will need that energy against San Francisco and UCLA. San Francisco is led by Ashley Davies who leads the team with three goals.

UCLA is the best team to play Hawai'i in its nine-year existence. UCLA was the NCAA runner-up in 2000, and captured the Pac-10 crown last season. The Bruins are led by freshman Katie Rivera, who leads the team with seven points on three goals and an assist.

For Hawai'i, four players are nursing injuries and were kept out of practice this week. Starting midfielder Sasha Araya-Schraner (strained gluteal), starting defender Seline Williams (strained calf muscle), starting forward Arlene Devitt (sore ankle) and midfielder Erin Quattromani (strained hamstring) are doubtful for the tournament, Tenzing said.