Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
<li>Hawai'i
Women's Soccer Falls To
Hawai'i 3-0
10/18/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Oct. 18, 2003
HONOLULU- Natasha Kai recorded her fourth hat trick of the season as Hawai'i shutout Fresno State 3-0 on Friday night at the Waipio Peninisula Soccer Stadium.
Fresno State (6-7-2, 3-3-0 WAC), which had won three straight prior to kickoff, outshot Hawai'i 22-16 in the match but was unable to convert on several scoring opportunities. The Bulldogs tallied 11 shots on goal to five for Hawai'i.
The Rainbow Wahine (12-4-1, 6-1-0 WAC) clinched at least a second-place finish in the WAC and a first-round bye in next month's conference tournament with the victory. Hawai'i has won five in a row and tied a school-record with its 12th win.
Senior midfielder Erin Sayegusa (Honolulu, Hawaii), playing in front of several family and friends, led the offensive attack for the 'Dogs with six shots- four of which were on goal. Three other Bulldogs- sophomores Kortney Lewis and Eriko Yoshiki, along with freshman Cortney Sobrero- recorded three shots in the loss.
The Rainbow Wahine took advantage of two Fresno State defensive miscues to take an early 2-0 lead. The first came just 2:28 into the game when Bulldog freshman goalkeeper Jeannette Paine (Kelowna, British Columbia) charged out of the box to defend a Hawai'i long ball. Paine, however, tapped the ball directly to a hard-charging Natasha Kai, who promptly put away an open-net goal from 20 yards out.
A little more than 10 minutes later, Kai struck again. As a Fresno State defender headed the ball back near the goal, the speedy sophomore intercepted the pass and slid a shot inside the left post for her second goal of the evening.
Kai capped the scoring in the 77th minute, finding the net following assists from Liz Lusk and Kalen Eaton.
The Bulldogs required Hawai'i keeper Mahie Atay to make a season-high nine saves.
Fresno State returns home for its final two WAC matches of the regular season next week. The Bulldogs begin the homestand with a contest against Tulsa on Thursday, Oct. 23 at 7 p.m. The season finale is scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 26 versus Rice at 1:30 p.m. with senior day festivities leading up to kickoff.
