A four-game experiment with its lineup produced the one thing that was in short supply this season for the University of Hawai'i women's soccer team.

A win.

The Rainbow Wahine (2-6-1) broke through after three shutout losses in their first three games of a four-game, 10-day road trip to Southern California.

After starting the season 1-1-1, the Rainbow Wahine endured a five-game losing streak, finally breaking it on their final game of the road trip with a 2-1 win against Cal State Bakersfield on Sunday.

"Oh my goodness. We were pretty ... not wanting to say discouraged, but we just wanted our luck to change," junior captain Mari Punzal said. "There were times we shot it and it would hit the post, but the ball didn't want to go in the goal."

After losing to several teams with a 4-3-3 lineup (four defenders, three midfielders, three forwards), Hawai'i decided to tinker with its lineup.

The Rainbow Wahine lost starting midfielder Rachel Domingo for the season to a knee injury, then moved Kristyn Shapka from defender to the midfield, and switched midfielder Shauna Musser to defense in their first game on the road against Pepperdine.

"Even though the scores reflected that we lost, we've been progressing," Punzal said. "In the Cal-State Fullerton game our defense picked up, in the Cal-State Northridge game the midfield was connecting and against Bakersfield, we finally worked it up top.

"I think we're all meshing now."

Senior captain and forward Ambree Ako thought Hawai'i made its breakthrough against Northridge, but with no results to show for it.

"But we just couldn't finish," Ako said. "I think it was one of our best games, but we couldn't finish the ball.

"Against Bakersfield, everything was good, and we finally managed to finish."

And just in time, too.

Hawai'i plays Detroit-Mercy tonight and Saturday at the Waipi'o Peninsula Soccer Stadium. Both games start at 7 p.m.

Detroit-Mercy (2-5-1) arrived in Hawai'i yesterday after playing a game at home Tuesday evening, losing to Oakland University, 1-0.

This week's games are the final two non-conference games before Hawai'i opens Western Athletic Conference play against San Jose State and Fresno State next weekend.

"It is very crucial for us to keep it going," Ako said. "If it breaks down, WAC is around the corner, and that is not the time for us to mess around and experiment with stuff.

"It's good because everything is pretty much set, if everyone keeps playing the way they are playing. We don't need to fix things, we just need to fine-tune things."