Colleges
Arakawa, South Dakota State down Rainbow Wahine to win Outrigger Soccer Kickoff


Kalani Takase | ScoringLive
August 30, 2021, 12:11am

 


WAIPAHU — Teani Arakawa probably couldn't have scripted a more perfect Sunday.

Arakawa, a 2021 graduate of King Kekaulike from Makawao, Maui and freshman on the South Dakota State University women's soccer team, scored the lone goal in her team's 1-0 win over the University of Hawaii in the final game of the Outrigger Soccer Kickoff.

The victory pushed the Jackrabbits' record to 4-0 for just the second time in program history and the first time since 2001. It was their second shut out in three days following Friday's 6-0 blanking of Idaho State.

"I just pretty much think we put our hearts out to it today and the (game) before this one, but overall I feel pretty great being back in Hawaii to be able to play and show for my family, friends and everybody else and make them proud," said Arakawa, a 5-foot-1 forward/midfielder.

As a junior at King Kekaulike, Arakawa was named All-Hawaii Offensive Player of the Year and led Na Alii to the Division I state championship final against Kamehameha in February of 2019. Prior to Sunday's return to Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex, that was the last time that Arakawa played a match in the main stadium there.

Unlike in the finals of the state tournament, however, the stands at Waipio were entirely empty Sunday evening. As is the case with all sporting events, fan attendance is not currently permitted at Rainbow Wahine games, due to the City and County's ban on large gatherings.

That meant Arakawa's friends and family who made the trip from Maui were unable to watch her play in-person this weekend.

"They all flew in and they were just bummed that they couldn't watch, and I was super sad about it, but I was playing for them and for my teammates and everyone else," said the two-time Gatorade State Player of the Year.

No one felt worse about the situation than UH coach Michele "Bud" Nagamine, who was empathetic toward the large contingent of family and friends who traveled with the South Dakota State team, many of them from the mainland.

"I mean, I'm getting texts and emails all the time from the fans that just wish that they could be there and I want to thank everybody for reaching out and trying to really let us know that they miss us and they're thinking about us," said Nagamine, whose team last played a match in front of fans at Waipio on Oct. 27, 2019.

"I mean, you know, six-hundred, fifty-plus days of not playing, you know, we miss ‘em, we miss our fans and we can't wait till they're back in the stands again," she added.

But the Jackrabbits found a way to make it work. They employed the parents of sisters Karlee and Kaycee Manding — a pair of Waipahu graduates — to provide a live stream via cell phone and iPad to the rest of the team's supporters.

"We hired them as the video crew to film so that they could come and watch," laughed Karlee, a 2018 Waipahu alumna. "A lot of families came down, so I'm just happy that they got to see us — for the first time, for me, since high school."

For the Manding sisters, they were playing in — almost literally — their backyard. Their high school campus is just a stone's throw away — albeit over Ted Makalena Golf Course — from Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex.

"Honestly, yeah, just being with family and being on home turf, kind of, in a way just being home and spending time with everyone and showing everyone our home, it's kind of nice," said Kaycee, a 2020 Waipahu graduate.

"It was nice to be under the lights again," Karlee added. "Sad that our families and friends couldn't be here to support, but I mean, we do what we can with what we got and overall we had fun, so it was good."

That fun also coincided with winning; The Jackrabbits' two victories over the weekend were enough to crown them as champions of the four-team Outrigger Soccer Kickoff.

"That was a nice perk," Karlee interjected.

Unless pressed, however, the trio didn't talk about the victories on the pitch.

"The main purpose of Jackrabbits' soccer is just to be the best team mentally, the most positive team on the field and we don't focus on outcomes, we focus on performance," Karlee added.

It took a bit for South Dakota State to settle into Sunday's match against the tournament hosts.

"In the beginning, in the first half you could tell that we were very distracted, very rafferty, lacking focused, distracted overall just by the outside circumstances, but second half I think we really zoned in on our game and what our purpose was as a team and at the end of the day I think that we fulfilled that, no matter the outcome, win or lose," Karlee explained. "The win was just a perk; it felt really good though."

All three local products were in the starting 11 for the Jackrabbits against UH. There were certainly a lot of familiar faces surrounding them, as Kaycee Manding pointed out.

"It's kind of funny because I know half the (UH) team," she said. "I played with half the team in club season and it's kind of nice seeing them on the field again — I mean, whether it's playing with them or against them, it's always fun. Yes, it's a good win — it feels so good — but all in all, we represent Hawaii no matter what, no matter what team we're on."

The circumstances on Sunday for the trio were unique, to say the least.

"Yeah, it was nice to represent our state … in our state," chuckled Karlee.

Perhaps no one showed out more than Arakawa, however, who broke the scoreless tie about three minutes into the second half.

As she received the pass from the midfield, Arakawa made a turn on the ball and left a defender in her dust. She split two more Rainbow Wahine defenders before getting off a right-footed shot toward the far post that snuck under the glove of goalkeeper Lauren Marquez and into the goal.

The first teammates to embrace Arakawa were the Manding sisters.

"It most definitely is (surreal) because I really wanted that," Arakawa said of her second career goal. "I was striving for that and thinking that we held it off for another half an hour or more is awesome."

Nagamine tipped her cap to Arakawa and the Jackrabbits for the hard-fought win.

"I think when a local girl does well on a mainland team, it shows that Hawaii can produce good players and they can play anywhere," said the 10th-year UH coach. "I'm happy for the local girls on South Dakota State, I think they're putting the 808 stamp on the midwest and that's fantastic and I wish them all the best; I hope they win their conference this year."

While she is genuinely happy for their success, Nagamine surely wouldn't mind keeping more of those local players "home."

"The reality is we can't keep every local girl home, you know? A lot of times there's financial situations that they need and it was a COVID year and we're tasked to keep our roster a certain size," said Nagamine, whose team was picked to finish sixth (out of 11 total teams) in the Big West Conference preseason coaches poll.

But helping those players make a trip home with their team(s) is a bit of a feather in the cap of Nagamine, who does have eight players on her current roster who graduated from high school in Hawaii. They are sophomores Kelci Sumida (Moanalua '19) and Taylor Caporus (Roosevelt '19) and freshman Nicole Ando (Mililani '21), Amber Gilbert (Mililani '20), Jacey Jicha (Mililani '21), Tausani Tavale (Kamehameha '20), Carley Park (Kamehameha '21) and Kyanah Blas (Konawaena '20).

"We don't have the luxury of keeping every single local girl home, so if we can bring them home, you know, we want to do that for their families as well," she added.

To be sure, the South Dakota State trio is supremely appreciative of the opportunity.

"We represent the 808," Kaycee reiterated. "No matter what team we're on, we represent the 808 state all the time."

Arakawa and Karlee Manding were among the five Jackrabbits selected to the all-tournament team.

"I think this trip was a real growth opportunity," Karlee said. "I mean, when it came down to business we were here to do business and I think that we took a step forward just with always building upon what we have in our foundation and I think that going into our next game against (Hawaii Pacific) that's our next goal, just to take that next step forward and to keep building upon what we have built this season."

UH fell to 0-1-1 on the season and has been shut out in its first two matches for the first time since 2013.

The Rainbow Wahine will depart for a three-game road trip in the Pacific Northwest this week that will see them play Gonzaga Thursday in Spokane, Wash., Washington State Sunday in Pullman and Idaho next Wednesday (Sept. 8) in Moscow.

South Dakota State closes out its week-long trip to Hawaii on Wednesday, when it faces HPU at 3 p.m. at Waipio.

Greg Yamamoto | SL    View image

NORTH TEXAS TOO MUCH FOR WURLITZER, BENGALS

Idaho State took an early lead on a goal by Deborah Pond, that was assisted by Karlin Wurlitzer (Mililani '18), in the sixth minute, but ultimately saw North Texas pull away for a 4-1 win in the early game at Waipio Sunday afternoon.

The Bengals fell to 0-3-1, while the Mean Green improved to 3-0-1 on the year.

Idaho State was coming off of a 6-0 loss at the hands of South Dakota State Friday. To say that its players were eager to get back out on the pitch Sunday was an understatement.

"Oh yeah," said Wurlitzer, a redshirt junior defender. "Obviously we learned a lot from Friday, another tough game. We fixed some things that needed fixing. We adjusted to the new style that North Texas was obviously playing and I think we were all excited to come out against a different challenge and a challenge that's a lot more similar to what our conference looks like, so that was pretty good for us."

Wurlitzer was part of the goal for the Bengals, which came in just the sixth minute of the match. After a North Texas foul gave Idaho State a free kick from about 30 yards out, Wurlitzer initiated the restart with a left-footed pass that bounced toward the back post, where Pond put away the header for a goal.

"We come out here every day, we just try to work play by play and that one ended up working out for us," Wurlitzer said.

Idaho State's lead held until the 41st minute, when North Texas netted the equalizer and the go-ahead goal — both of them by Madison Drenowatz — in a span of three minutes to take a 2-1 lead into halftime.

The Mean Green made it a two-goal lead when Elle Marie DeFrain found the back of the net in the 57th minute. Allie Byrd's goal in the final seconds of the match closed out the scoring.

"I think we learned a lot, individual as players and then as a whole, as a team," said graduate assistant Laulea Akana-Phillips (Kamehameha '17 of Waianae).

"They were great games for us to learn from and build from, so when we go into (Big Sky) Conference, obviously we know what to fix and we'll be better then, so I think it was just a learning lesson for all of us, but the girls gave it their all no matter what," she said.

Wurlitzer was one of seven Bengals to play all 90 minutes Sunday. Freshman midfielder/forward Meagan Tamashiro (Mililani '20) came off the bench for 24 minutes of action in the second half. Freshman defender Callie Mullen (Mililani '20) started Friday's match against South Dakota State, but did not appear against North Texas.

"I think it's been fun," Tamashiro said of the Outrigger Soccer Kickoff. "I mean, our girls are always supportive — loudest bench in the whole venue — and they keep us going. We always cheer for each other and we're each other's biggest No. 1 fans, I guess, so it's been fun either way with these girls; it's just great to be here with them."

Mullen said the experience of playing back under the lights of the main stadium at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex has been a bit nostalgic.

"Just being here with a different team — we're usually here with our high school teams, bringing it back to the days," Mullen said. "It's nice to obviously come home."

While the final results weren't all that pretty, the payoff for Idaho State will come down the road, Wurlitzer believes.

"(South Dakota State), Summit League champs; North Texas, C-USA champs (2019), so I mean, really good opponents and really good competition, so we're grateful for that," she said.

Greg Yamamoto | SL    View image

FULLER, OF VANDY FOOTBALL FAME, STARS AS MEAN GREEN ‘KEEPER

While Idaho State was outscored 10 to 1 in its two games in the Outrigger Soccer Kickoff, its lone goal was the only one surrendered by North Texas goalkeeper Sarah Fuller on the weekend.

Yes, that Sarah Fuller.

The same Sarah Fuller who made history last fall as the first woman to play in and score a point in a Power-Five collegiate football game. After graduating from Vanderbilt in the spring with a degree in Medicine, Health and Society, Fuller enrolled at North Texas, where she is a graduate transfer and the starting goalkeeper.

Fuller pitched a shut out Friday against the University of Hawaii, but the Mean Green's inability to put the ball in the back of the net — particularly on a 93rd-minute penalty kick that instead went down as one of UH goalie Lauren Marquez's seven saves on the night — was rather frustrating, she admitted. Ultimately, the game went 110 minutes without a goal and resulted in a tie.

Sunday's match got off to an inauspicious start when Pond put away the header in the sixth minute to give the Bengals the lead. In the end, however, it was of little consequence as North Texas scored four unanswered goals in the game's final 50 minutes to pull away.

"Yeah, it was great," Fuller said of the come-from-behind win. "I mean, I would have loved a shut out, but it really showed out tenacity and our grit (that) this team has to come from behind and then really solidify that win, so I'm really proud of us."

Fuller said that she had never been to Hawaii prior to this week, but had a former soccer teammate at Vanderbilt in Taiana Tolleson (Konawaena '16), who hails from the 50th state.

"I was excited to come here because she always talked about how wonderful it was here," Fuller said.

Following the game the team went straight from Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex to Daniel K. Inouye International Airport for their direct flight to Dallas. Fuller, as well as the rest of her Mean Green teammates, thoroughly enjoyed their time on Oahu.

"It's been fantastic, the weather — I cannot complain — and the beaches and the culture and everything is fantastic, so I've had a really great time here and so has the rest of the team," Fuller said. "We've had a fantastic time."

"Well, you know, we're really excited to get into conference play and everything and then we play Baylor on Thursday, so we're just excited to go in with no losses going into the season and just keep grinding."

North Texas will host Baylor Thursday, then play at Oklahoma on Sunday.


WELCOME TO HAWAII, HAVE SOME SPAM

Both local contingents on the Idaho State and South Dakota State teams took on the duty of serving as pseudo-tour guides to their teammates and coaches this week.

"A little bit," laughed Akana-Phillips. "More like navigator."

For many of the mainland players for both the Bengals and Jackrabbits, this week was their first exposure to a certain processed canned meat.

"Oh yeah, we are slowly turning people to SPAM," Karlee Manding said.

It was a hard sell, to say the least.

"Let me just tell you, none of them wanted to even look at SPAM when we got here, but they don't know how to cook it — that's what it is," Kaycee Manding said, passionately. "You gotta put the shoyu."

Wurlitzer said that she was impressed with her teammates willingness to try unfamiliar cuisines.

"We had a couple stomach aches — not gonna lie — but it didn't even deter them," she said. "They were like, ‘wow,' pretty much with everything."

Interestingly enough, the SPAM museum is located in Austin, Minn., which lies some 240 miles due east of Brookings, S.D., the home to South Dakota State University.

"Super close, yeah, there's a SPAM factory over there, but everybody hates SPAM," Karlee said. "Everyone is so surprised that we all eat SPAM."

SPAM musubi coming to concession stands in Brookings, S.D. and Pocatello, Idaho? Maybe.

Probably not.


Reach Kalani Takase at [email protected].




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