It took a goal for the University of Hawai'i women's soccer team to wake up. Unfortunately for the Rainbow Wahine, the goal only meant their deficit was cut from three to two.

San Jose State junior midfielder Nicole Irwin recorded a second-half hat trick and the Spartans held off a Hawai'i rally in a 4-2 win in a Western Athletic Conference game last night at the Waipi'o Peninsula Soccer Stadium in front of 1,017 fans.

"Just putting in that goal, that just sparked everything," Hawai'i captain Jessica Domingo said of Ambree Ako's goal in the 66th minute to make it 3-1. "Because then we were down by two goals, then we scored again and we were down by one."

Hawai'i (8-8-2, 2-3 WAC) dropped back-to-back home WAC games for the first time since 1997. It also was its first loss to the Spartans (7-8-2, 4-0-1 WAC) since 1998, and its sixth loss in the past eight games.

"I don't know anymore," Domingo said. "We just have nothing. If we knew, we would try to fix it."

Hawai'i heads to Nevada and Fresno State for the conclusion of the WAC regular season.

The top six teams in the eight-member WAC qualify for the conference tournament, in Reno, Nev., from Nov. 2 to 5. The winner of the WAC Tournament earns an automatic NCAA berth. The Rainbow Wahine sit in fifth place.

Spartans senior midfielder Cristin Murphy scored in the 14th minute on an assist from midfielder Hallsie Pacheco.

Pacheco sent a long ball that curled past the Hawai'i defense for Murphy to run on to, and Murphy shot a low ball into the right side of the goal.

San Jose State scored its second goal four minutes into the second half on a goal by Irwin.

The Hawai'i defense failed to clear the ball, and Irwin launched a 20-yard left-footer into the right side of the goal.

The third Spartans goal was again by Irwin, on a pass from sophomore forward Jessica Scott, who sent a through ball past the defense in the 66th minute.

Hawai'i scored two goals in the following minutes on scores by Ako, a freshman forward, and sophomore midfielder Kelli-Anne Chang to close to 3-2.

"They never gave up," Hawai'i coach Pinsoom Tenzing said. "Nicole Irwin had a spectacular game, and they were still in it. And they could have won if they converted their opportunities."

Ako, back after sitting out a game because of an ankle sprain, scored on an assist from Domingo 27 seconds after Irwin's goal.

Domingo, a junior midfielder, dribbled into the penalty box then slotted a backward diagonal pass to Ako who was near the top of the penalty box. Ako's left-footed shot went into the upper left netting.

Chang scored two minutes later after junior defender Koren Takeyama chipped a cross from the left side to Chang, who was waiting at the far right post. Chang brought the ball down with one touch then poked it into the right side of the goal.

Irwin scored her third goal in the 77th minute after she stole the ball from Takeyama, then blasted another left-footed shot just under the crossbar from 25 yards out to give the Spartans the 4-2 lead.

"She was on fire," said Domingo, who called Irwin one of the best players in the WAC. "We knew what she was about and she had a great left foot, but we still didn't shut her down."

Tenzing said he knew Irwin had a "terrific foot," and said the Rainbow Wahine did a good job of marking Irwin in the first half, but the team chose to lay off her in the second half.

"A lot of the shots came as a surprise to me," Irwin said. "I didn't think I would have that many opportunities. They're such a good team."

In its final home game of the season, Hawai'i honored seniors Kelly McCloskey, a midfielder/defender from Santa Cruz, Calif., and goalkeeper Brittney Aiwohi from Honolulu.

Reach Leila Wai at lwai@honoluluadvertiser.com.