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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, August 28, 2008

Long Beach State beats UH soccer team in overtime, 4-3

Photo gallery: UH soccer

By Leila Wai
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Hawai'i's Alexis Choi beats a fallen Shawna Gordon of Long Beach State to the ball in the first half.

REBECCA BREYER | The Honolulu Advertiser

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The University of Hawai'i women's soccer team twice squandered two-goal leads in a loss to Long Beach State to start the season.

Senior forward Kim Silos found the goal through a crowd of defenders to give the 49ers a 4-3 win in overtime in the OHANA Hotels & Resorts No Ka Oi tournament last night at the Waipi'o Peninsula Soccer Stadium in front of 732 fans.

"We all know that two-goal leads are dangerous," Hawai'i coach Pinsoom Tenzing said. "You tend to relax, and that's precisely what they did. It's hard to turn it on again."

Long Beach State (2-0) plays Denver (2-0) Saturday at 5 p.m. Hawai'i plays Denver Monday at 4 p.m.

Silos scored 3 minutes, 16 seconds into sudden victory overtime after a flip throw-in by Chantel Hubbard bounced around the 18-yard box. After the Hawai'i defense tried to clear it, the ball went to Silos.

"It's not inability (to clear)," Tenzing said. "It's the desire. We weren't clearing the ball; we were just playing with it back there."

It was a back-and-forth game, with Hawai'i taking a 2-0 lead on goals by junior forward Ambree Ako and sophomore defender Chelsea Deptula.

Ako scored in the 34th minute as a result of a counterattack off a Long Beach State corner kick.

The Hawai'i defense cleared the ball to senior midfielder Kelli-Anne Chang, who was waiting near the top of the midfield. Chang sent the ball to Ako, who was streaking up the field. Ako then passed it to senior midfielder Alexis Choi up the left side. Choi passed it back into the 18-yard box to Ako, who shot the ball under goalkeeper Liz Ramos.

Deptula scored in the 49th minute. Deptula, falling backward, shot the ball into the goal off a 30-yard free kick by senior forward Taryn Fukuroku that was headed by senior defender Tehane Higa.

Silos answered after dribbling up the middle of the 18-yard box and shooting it into the left, lower netting on a pass from Sahar Haghdan in the 61st minute.

"We just had some breakdowns on defense," Higa said. "Props to them, because even though they were down, they never gave up."

Senior midfielder Kristen Oshiro put the Rainbow Wahine back up 3-1 when she blasted a shot off a pass from junior midfielder Vanessa Bailey across the 18-yard box that several 49ers whiffed on in the 72nd minute.

Silos closed it to 3-2 when her free kick from 5 yards outside of the left side of the 18-yard box floated to midfielder Lindsay Bullock, who headed it into the goal in the 76th minute.

"I don't know what happened, once they scored, the momentum shifted," said Higa, the team's co-captain. "We have to learn that just because we score, don't stop, because they can always come back."

Long Beach State tied it at 3 with less than five minutes to go on a shot by senior midfielder Mariko Strickland when the Rainbow Wahine again couldn't clear a corner kick. Strickland, a Mid-Pacific alum, was waiting near the top of the 18-yard box and put away the ball.

"Usually we are able to get the ball out, but tonight we were clearing the ball and it would bounce to them and they would get the perfect shot off," Higa said.

Reach Leila Wai at lwai@honoluluadvertiser.com.