By Siriana Gudino (@sirianagudino) – Spear Reporter | Senior forward Paige Pineda-Aliamus sprinting to ball in game against University of Hawai’i at Mānoa on Oct. 15, 2026 (Photo by Cesar Maya – Spear Photographer)
San Jose State women’s soccer (2-9-2, 1-5-0 MW) lost 2-0 to the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa (7-4-1, 4-1-0 MW) after two late goals Thursday at Spartan Soccer Complex in San Jose, Calif.
This was the teams’ first matchup in 15 years. The Spartans’ record against the Rainbow Wahines is 5-8-3. The previous matchup between these two teams ended in a 1-1 draw on Oct. 16, 2011, in Honolulu, O‘ahu.
After a back-and-forth contest, Hawai’i found its first goal on a corner kick in the 78th minute. The ball was pinballed around in the 6-yard box when senior midfielder Izzy Ayala tapped the ball into the goal for a 1-0 lead.
“It was just unlucky,” senior forward Paige Pineda-Aliamus said. “The ball was bouncing around. Everybody was on everybody and it was just unlucky that it didn’t come out the way we wanted.”
Pineda-Aliamus took the most shots for the Spartans in the game, accounting for 3 of the 6 attempts.
Her best shot came in the 13th minute, when she sent a rocket to the right side of the goal to force the Rainbow Wahines’ junior goalkeeper Kennedy Justin to make a diving save.
“We got a couple decent shots off,” Pineda-Aliamus said. “We were combining pretty well up top, trying to get the best chance we can on goal”
Both teams matched effort in the first half, maintaining even possession with SJSU at 51% and Hawai’i at 49%.
The game got increasingly physical and rowdy throughout the match.
There was a combined total of 24 fouls called, with three Spartans receiving yellow cards. Fans of both teams engaged in a cheering battle in the stands, where Hawai’i’s bench participated as well.
“The momentum was going,” junior goalkeeper Paige Fry said. “You could hear the crowd getting loud and in our favor, and I think that was so awesome.”
Fry totaled 5 saves and made a huge stop to keep the game 0-0 in the 48th minute.
The Spartans were missing a key defender late in the game when both goals occurred. Junior defender Elizabeth Ortega had to step up in the center-back position for junior defender Charlotte Memoly late in the second half.
“We had to take Charlotte out ‘cause she’s been ill all week,” SJSU head coach Sonia Curvelo said. “As soon as we took Charlotte out and made changes in the back, that’s when we gave up 2 goals too. Those are things we are looking at.”
Memoly is a captain on the SJSU team, alongside Fry and sophomore midfielder Mercedes Cioffi, and has started every game this season.
SJSU will go up against Grand Canyon University at 1 p.m. Sunday at GCU Stadium in Phoenix, Ariz.
